Nitrile hydratase variant

ABSTRACT

The amino acid sequence of a mutant which is obtained by introducing a novel mutation into a  Pseudonocardia thermophila  JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase consisting of two types of heterogeneous subunits, and the base sequence of the gene are provided. The nitrile hydratase is modified by specifying the region to be modified in the stereostructure/amino acid sequence of the nitrile hydratase, and applying alteration such as substitution, insertion, deletion or the like, to the amino acids in the amino acid sequence which are corresponding to the amino acid residues forming the region. Also provided is a method for modifying an enzyme having a nitrile hydratase activity.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a novel nitrile hydratase, as well as to a gene encoding the enzyme, to a plasmid containing the gene, to a transformant strain as transformed with the plasmid, to a method for producing a nitrile hydratase using the transformant strain, and to a method for processing a nitrile compound with a culture obtained from cultivating the transformant strain, with the cultivated cells or with a product obtained by processing the cultivated cells, to produce a corresponding amide compound.

Further, the invention relates to a process for modifying the properties of an enzyme having the activity of nitrile hydratase. Furthermore, the invention relates to an enzyme with modified properties, as well as to a gene encoding the enzyme, to a plasmid containing the gene, to a transformant strain transformed with the plasmid, to a method for producing a nitrile hydratase using the transformant strain, and to a method for processing a nitrile compound with a culture obtained from cultivating the transformant strain, with the cultivated cells or with a product obtained by processing the cultivated cells, to produce a corresponding amide compound. The invention is useful in the field of material production using a biological catalyst.

BACKGROUND ART

A nitrile hydratase has been discovered which is an enzyme having the nitrile-hydrating activity to convert a nitrile group of various compounds to an amide group by hydration, and a number of microorganism strains producing the above-mentioned enzyme have been introduced. In order to produce an amide compound from a nitrile compound using a nitrile hydratase on an industrial scale, it is important to reduce the proportion of the production costs for this enzyme in the total production costs for producing the amide compound. More specifically, it is necessary to increase the content of the enzyme in a unit weight of the preparation obtained from the enzyme production. Thus, attempts have been being made to clone the gene of the enzyme for the purpose of expressing a large amount of the enzyme through genetic engineering means using the gene of the enzyme.

As the microorganisms having the activity of nitrile hydratase, Rhodococcus rhodochrous strain J1 (deposited under the Budapest Treaty with the International Patent Organism Depositary at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba Central 6, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki-ken, Japan, under the deposit number FERM BP-1478) and Pseudonocardia thermophila (this strain is in storage in the Japan collection of Microorganisms at RIKEN BioResource Center, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama-ken 351-0198, Japan, under the accession number JCM3095 and may be freely distributed to anyone upon request. Also, it is deposited under the Budapest Treaty with the International Patent Organism Depositary at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, under the deposit number FERM BP-7379) are known (see Patent Documents 1 and 3).

In addition, a nitrile hydratase has been isolated from these strains, and it has been confirmed that this enzyme consists of two types of polypeptides generally referred to as an α-subunit and a β-subunit. Further, the gene of the nitrile hydratase has been isolated from these strains, and the amino acid sequence and the base sequence for the enzyme have been identified. Also, the plasmid which can express the nitrile hydratase in a transformant and the strain transformed with this plasmid (for example, TG1/pNHJ10H and MT-10822: under the Budapest Treaty, the former is deposited with the International Patent Organism Depositary at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology under the deposit number FERM BP-2777, and the latter is deposited with the International Patent Organism Depositary at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba Central 6, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki-ken, Japan, under the deposit number FERM BP-5785, as of Feb. 7, 1996) have been prepared. Additionally, it has been made possible to produce a nitrile hydratase by means of these strains, and to process a nitrile compound to produce a corresponding amide compound by bringing the strain or the nitrile hydratase obtained therefrom into contact with the nitrile compound (see Patent Documents 2 and 4, and Non-patent Document 1).

Also, attempts have been being made to interpret the stereostructure of a nitrile hydratase, and the interpretation results have been disclosed under PDB ID NOs: 1AHJ, 2AHJ and 1IRE. It is clear now that the enzyme comprises a dimer having the α-subunit and the β-subunit which are in association as the fundamental structural unit, and the dimers are further associated to form tetramers, octamers or dodecamers (depending on the biological species of origin) in order to express the activity. Further, the region or structure forming the active center has been identified, and it is known that the active center is not at an exposed position on the external side of the enzyme where direct contact is made with the reaction solvent, but at a position where it looks like being embedded inside the enzyme. Also known is the stereostructure in which a metal atom that is essential for expression of the activity (cobalt atom or iron atom, depending on the biological species of origin) is coordinated to the active center, and it has been disclosed that a cysteine residue in the amino acid sequence that constitutes the region forming the active center undergoes oxidation after transcription, as a phenomenon associated with the coordination of a metal atom. Specifically, a region represented by the sequence X₁CXLC₁SC₂X₂X₃X₄X₅ (SEQ ID NO: 142) (wherein, C corresponds to cysteine, X to serine or threonine, L to leucine, C₁ to cysteine sulfinic acid (cysteine sulfinic acid.3-sulfinoalanine), S to serine, and C₂ to cysteine sulfenic acid (cysteine sulfenic acid S-hydroxy-cysteine); and X₁, X₂, X₃, X₄ and X₅ represent arbitrary amino acid, respectively) in the amino acid sequence of the α-subunit is known as the region responsible for the coordination of the metal atom to the active center (see Non-patent Documents 2 to 4).

However, with regard to the method of modifying the properties of the nitrile hydratase, without impairing the original activity thereof, such as the enzymatic activity, substrate-specificity, V_(max), K_(m), thermal stability, stability against the substrate, stability against the product or the like, no invention has been reported which discloses a specific technique therefor. In particular, no attempt has been made regarding the method of modifying the above-mentioned properties by paying attention to the stereostructure of the nitrile hydratase and changing the stereostructure.

Furthermore, it is disclosed in Patent Document 5 that in the case of producing a nitrile hydratase having the enzymatic activity by expressing a gene that codes for nitrile hydratase using a host cell, there exists a protein which is involved in the activation of the enzyme.

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-470

Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-211379

Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-56684

Patent Document 4: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-275978

Patent Document 5: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-253168

Non-patent Document 1: Kobayashi M, Nishiyama M, Nagasawa T, Horinouchi S, Beppu T, Yamada H. Cloning, nucleotide sequence and expression in Escherichia coli of two cobalt-containing nitrile hydratase genes from Rhodococcus rhodochrous J1. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1991 Dec. 2; 1129 (1): 23-33.

Non-patent Document 2: Huang W, Jia J, Cummings J, Nelson M, Schneider G, Lindqvist Y. Crystal structure of nitrile hydratase reveals a novel iron centre in a novel fold. Structure. 1997 May 15; 5(5): 691-9.

Non-patent Document 3: Nagashima S, Nakasako M, Dohmae N, Tsujimura M, Takio K, Odaka M, Yohda M, Kamiya N, Endo I. Novel non-heme iron center of nitrile hydratase with a claw setting of oxygen atoms. Nat Struct Biol. 1998 May; 5(5): 347-51.

Non-patent Document 4: Miyanaga, A., Fushinobu, S., Ito, K., and Wakagi, T. Crystal structure of cobalt-containing nitrile hydratase. Biochem. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2001 Nov. 16; 288(5): 1169-74.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

It is an advantage of the invention to provide the amino acid sequence of a nitrile hydratase which has a novel substitution mutation site that does not substantially modify the function, and the base sequence of the gene encoding the enzyme. Moreover, it is to provide a plasmid containing the gene, a transformant strain transformed with the plasmid, a process for producing a nitrile hydratase using the transformant strain, and a process for processing a nitrile compound with a culture obtained from cultivating the transformant strain, with the cultivated cells or with a product obtained by processing the cultivated cells, to produce a corresponding amide compound.

Further, another advantage of the invention is to provide a specific technique relating to a method comprising modification of one or more properties of nitrile hydratase such as the enzymatic activity, substrate specificity, V_(max), K_(m), thermal stability, stability against the substrate, stability against the product or the like, without impairing the enzyme's original activity. More specifically, it is to provide a method for modifying the properties by introducing into the nitrile hydratase gene a mutation which effects a change in the stereostructure of the nitrile hydratase. It is also to provide a nitrile hydratase obtained according to the method for modification, a gene encoding the nitrile hydratase, a plasmid containing the gene, a transformant strain transformed with the gene or the plasmid, a method for producing the nitrile hydratase using the transformant strain, and a method for processing a nitrile compound with a culture obtained from cultivating the transformant strain, with the cultivated cells or with a product obtained by processing the cultivated cells, to produce a corresponding amide compound.

Under these circumstances, the inventors succeeded in introducing into the nitrile hydratase gene disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-275978 (Patent Document 4), a novel substitution mutation site that is not disclosed in the above-mentioned publication and determined the base sequence of the gene after the introduction of the mutation. Furthermore, they produced a plasmid containing the gene and a transformant strain transformed with the plasmid. They have also made extensive studies on preparing the enzyme using the strain or processing a nitrile compound using a culture obtained from cultivating the transformant strain, with the cultivated cells or with a product obtained by processing the cultivated cells, to produce a corresponding amide compound. As a result, the invention was completed.

The α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase according to the invention is characterized in that it has an amino acid sequence containing mutation in which at least one amino acid of the 36^(th), 71^(st), 148^(th) and 204^(th) amino acids in the amino acid sequence of the α-subunit as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1 in the Sequence Listing is substituted by another amino acid.

The β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase according to the invention is characterized in that it has an amino acid sequence containing mutation in which at least one amino acid of the 10^(th), 32^(nd), 37^(th), 41^(st), 46^(th), 48^(th), 51^(st), 72^(nd), 118^(th), 127^(th), 146^(th), 160^(th), 186^(th) and 217^(th) amino acids in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 2 in the Sequence Listing is substituted by another amino acid.

The nitrile hydratase according to the invention is characterized in that it comprises an α-subunit and a β-subunit, and at least one of these subunits has the above-mentioned mutation.

The gene encoding the α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase according to the invention is characterized in that it codes for an amino acid sequence having mutation in the α-subunit. The gene encoding the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase according to the invention is characterized in that it codes for an amino acid sequence having mutation in the β-subunit.

The gene encoding the nitrile hydratase according to the invention is characterized in that it comprises the gene encoding the α-subunit and the gene encoding the β-subunit, and at least one of these subunits has the above-mentioned mutation.

The plasmid of the invention is characterized in having any one of the above-mentioned genes.

The transformant of the invention is characterized in that it is obtained by transformation of a host cell using the plasmid.

The production of the nitrile hydratase of the invention is characterized in comprising a step of recovering the nitrile hydratase from the transformant, a culture obtained from cultivation of the transformants, or the product obtained from the processing of the transformants or the culture.

The method for producing an amide compound according to the invention is characterized in comprising a step of bringing a nitrile compound into contact with the nitrile hydratase in an aqueous medium to convert the nitrile compound to a corresponding amide compound.

Moreover, under these circumstances, taking an example from the nitrile hydratase genes disclosed in Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 4, the inventors specified a region to be subjected to mutation, based on the aspect of novelty, and implemented the method for modifying a nitrile hydratase by applying alteration such as substitution, insertion or deletion at the amino acids in the amino acid sequence which correspond to the amino acid residues forming the region. Specifically, the inventors specified the region to be modified in accordance with the purpose, by carrying out an assiduous interpretation with reference to the stereostructure of the nitrile hydratase as disclosed in the Non-patent Documents 2, 3 and 4 and in PDB ID NOs: 1AHJ, 2AHJ and 1IRE. More specifically, by the interpretation of the stereostructure, they specified the region which forms a cavity through which a substrate passes from the outside of the enzyme toward the active center or a product passes from the active center toward the outside of the enzyme, and the region which forms an associative interface between the α-subunit and the β-subunit which is involved in the formation of dimers or an interface involved in the association of dimers. The method for applying alteration such as substitution, insertion or deletion into an amino acid sequence is not particularly limited and may be exemplified by the technique of mutagenesis which employs the gene recombination technology.

In addition, the inventors observed how the method for modification changes the properties of nitrile hydratase, by determining the base sequence of the gene after the above-mentioned alteration, producing a plasmid containing the gene and a transformant strain transformed with the gene or the plasmid, and then performing the production of the enzyme using the transformant strain or the processing of a nitrile compound with a culture obtained from cultivating the transformant strain, with the cultivated cells or with a product obtained by processing the cultivated cells, to produce a corresponding amide compound. After a close examination on the alteration at various sites in the amino acid sequence constituting the nitrile hydratase to be modified, and on various modified enzymes obtained therefrom, the inventors eventually accomplished the invention.

Therefore, the invention relates to, in addition to the above-described features, the following [1] to [22]:

[1] a method for modifying an enzyme having the nitrile hydratase activity, which comprises changing one or more properties selected from the enzyme activity, substrate specificity, V_(max), K_(m), thermal stability, stability against the substrate and stability against the product, by specifying certain amino acid residues and performing substitution, insertion or deletion at one or more sites of the specified amino acid residues according to the following procedure:

(a) aligning the amino acid sequence of the enzyme having the nitrile hydratase activity before modification, with the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 98 in the Sequence Listing and the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing,

(b) specifying, based on the results of the alignment, the amino acid residues corresponding to the region extending from the 36^(th) threonine to the 48^(th) asparagine in the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 98 in the Sequence Listing, and to the region extending from the 31^(st) lysine to the 51^(st) phenylalanine and to the region extending from the 112^(th) lysine to the 127^(th) leucine in the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing, and

(c) performing substitution, insertion or deletion at one or more sites of the specified amino acid residues;

[2] a method for modifying an enzyme having the nitrile hydratase activity, which comprises changing one or more properties selected from the enzyme activity, substrate specificity, V_(max), K_(m), thermal stability, stability against the substrate and stability against the product, by specifying certain amino acid residues and performing substitution, insertion or deletion at one or more sites of the specified amino acid residues according to the following procedure:

(d) aligning the amino acid sequence of the enzyme having the nitrile hydratase activity before modification, with the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 98 in the Sequence Listing and the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing,

(e) specifying, based on the results of the alignment, the amino acid residues corresponding to the 36^(th), 48^(th), 71^(st), 148^(th), 188^(th) and 204^(th) of the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 98 in the Sequence Listing, and of the amino acid residues corresponding to the 10^(th), 32^(nd), 33^(rd), 37^(th), 40^(th), 41^(st), 46^(th), 48^(th), 51^(st), 61^(st), 72^(nd), 112^(th), 118^(th), 127^(th), 146^(th), 150^(th), 160^(th), 168^(th), 171^(st), 176^(th), 186^(th), 217^(th) and 218^(th) of the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing, and

(f) performing substitution, insertion or deletion at one or more sites of the specified amino acid residues;

[3] a method for modifying an enzyme having the nitrile hydratase activity, which comprises changing one or more properties selected from the enzymatic activity, substrate specificity, V_(max), K_(m), thermal stability, stability against the substrate and stability against the product, by specifying certain amino acid residues and performing substitution, insertion or deletion at one or more sites of the specified amino acid residues according to the following procedure:

(g) inferring the stereostructure of the enzyme having the nitrile hydratase activity before modification by carrying out an alignment based on the nitrile hydratase stereostructure and the amino acid sequence as set forth in PDB (Protein Data Bank) ID NO: 1IRE,

(h) specifying, based on the stereostructure inferred, the amino acid residues in the regions corresponding to the 2^(nd) helix as counted from the N-terminal in Chain 1IRE: A, and to the 1^(st) helix and the 2^(nd) helix as counted from the N-terminal, the loop portions inserted in the latter helices and the 3^(rd) helix as counted from the C-terminal in Chain 1IRE: B in the nitrile hydratase stereostructure as set forth in PDB ID NO: 1IRE, and

(i) performing substitution, insertion or deletion at one or more sites of the specified amino acid residues;

[4] a method for modifying an enzyme having the nitrile hydratase activity, which comprises changing one or more properties selected from the enzymatic activity, substrate specificity, V_(max), K_(m), thermal stability, stability against the substrate and stability against the product, by specifying certain amino acid residues and performing substitution, insertion or deletion at one or more sites of the specified amino acid residues according to the following procedure:

(j) inferring the stereostructure of the enzyme having the nitrile hydratase activity before modification by carrying out an alignment based on the nitrile hydratase stereostructure and the amino acid sequence as set forth in PDB ID NO: 1IRE,

(k) specifying, based on the stereostructure inferred, the four amino acid residues such as the amino acid residues which correspond to the 89^(th) amino acid residue glutamine and the 165^(th) amino acid residue glutamic acid as counted from the N-terminal in Chain A, and the amino acid residues which correspond to the 37^(th) amino acid residue phenylalanine and the 48^(th) amino acid leucine as counted from the N-terminal in Chain B in the nitrile hydratase stereostructure as set forth in PDB ID NO: 1IRE,

(l) specifying the amino acid residues whose side-chain front-end heavy atoms are located within 5 Å of radius in the respective stereostructure having each of the side-chain front-end heavy atoms of the four above-specified amino acid residues as the point center, and

(m) performing substitution, insertion or deletion at one or more of the amino acid residues specified in the above (l);

[5] a method for modifying an enzyme having the nitrile hydratase activity, which comprises changing one or more properties selected from the enzymatic activity, substrate specificity, V_(max), K_(m), thermal stability, stability against the substrate and stability against the product, by specifying certain amino acid residues and performing substitution, insertion or deletion at one or more sites of the specified amino acid residues according to the following procedure:

(n) inferring the stereostructure of the enzyme having the nitrile hydratase activity before modification by carrying out an alignment based on the nitrile hydratase stereostructure and the amino acid sequence as set forth in PDB ID NO: 1IRE,

(o) specifying, based on the inferred stereostructure, the region which forms a cavity through which a substrate passes from the outside of the enzyme toward the active center, or a product passes from the active center to the outside of the enzyme,

(p) specifying, among the amino acid residues constituting the above-specified region, the amino acid residues whose alteration leads to a change in the cavity size and further controls the easiness or difficulty in passing of the substrate/product, and

(q) performing substitution, insertion or deletion at one or more of the amino acid residues specified in the above (p);

[6] a method for modifying an enzyme having the nitrile hydratase activity, which comprises changing one or more properties selected from the enzymatic activity, substrate specificity, V_(max), K_(m), thermal stability, stability against the substrate and stability against the product, by specifying certain amino acid residues and performing substitution, insertion or deletion at one or more sites of the specified amino acid residues according to the following procedure:

(r) inferring the stereostructure of the enzyme having the nitrile hydratase activity before modification by carrying out an alignment based on the nitrile hydratase stereostructure and the amino acid sequence as set forth in PDB ID NO: 1IRE,

(s) specifying, based on the stereostructure inferred, the four amino acid residues such as the amino acid residues which correspond to the 89^(th) amino acid glutamine (A89Q) and the 165^(th) amino acid glutamic acid (A165E) as counted from the N-terminal in Chain A, and the amino acid residues which correspond to the 37^(th) amino acid phenylalanine (B37F) and the 48^(th) amino acid leucine (B48L) as counted from the N-terminal in Chain B in the nitrile hydratase stereostructure as set forth in PDB ID NO: 1IRE,

(t) specifying the amino acid residues which effect a change in at least one of d1 to d3, when the shortest distance between the heavy atoms of the amino acid residue corresponding to A165E and of the amino acid residue corresponding to B48L is designated as d1; the shortest distance between the heavy atoms of the amino acid residue corresponding to A89Q and of the amino acid residue corresponding to B48L as d2; and the shortest distance between the heavy atoms of the amino acid residue corresponding to B37F and of the amino acid residue corresponding to B48L as d3, and

(u) performing substitution, insertion or deletion at one or more sites of the specified amino acid residues;

[7] the method for modification according to [6], wherein the step of (t) is replaced by the following step (t′):

(t′) specifying the amino acid residues which effect a change in at least one of d1 to d5, when the shortest distance between the heavy atoms of the amino acid residue corresponding to A165E and of the amino acid residue corresponding to B48L is designated as d1; the shortest distance between the heavy atoms of the amino acid residue corresponding to A89Q and of the amino acid residue corresponding to B48L as d2; the shortest distance between the heavy atoms of the amino acid residue corresponding to B37F and of the amino acid residue corresponding to B48L is designated as d3; the shortest distance between the heavy atoms of the amino acid residue corresponding to A165E and of the amino acid residue corresponding to B37F as d4; and the shortest distance between the heavy atoms of the amino acid residue corresponding to A89Q and of the amino acid residue corresponding to B37F as d5;

[8] the method for modification according to any one of [1] to [7], wherein the enzyme having the nitrile hydratase activity before modification comprises the two polypeptides [A] and [B] of the following:

[A] a polypeptide consisting of an amino acid sequence which shows homology of at least 40% with the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 98 in the Sequence Listing, and

[B] a polypeptide consisting of an amino acid sequence which shows homology of at least 25% with the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing;

[9] the method for modification according to [8], wherein the polypeptide of [A] is the polypeptide of the following [C], and the polypeptide of [B] is the polypeptide of the following [D]:

[C] a polypeptide consisting of any amino acid sequence selected from the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 98 in the Sequence Listing; the amino acid sequence in which substitution, insertion or deletion has been implemented at one or more sites in the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 98 in the Sequence Listing; and the amino acid sequence in which at least one amino acid of the 6^(th), 19^(th), 38^(th), 77^(th), 90^(th), 102^(th), 106^(th), 126^(th), 130^(th), 142^(nd), 146^(th), 187^(th), 194^(th) and 203^(rd) amino acids in the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 98 in the Sequence Listing is substituted by another amino acid, and

[D] a polypeptide consisting of any amino acid sequence selected from the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing; the amino acid sequence in which substitution, insertion or deletion has been implemented at one or more sites in the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing; and the amino acid sequence in which at least one amino acid of the 20^(th), 21^(st), 108^(th), 200^(th) and 212^(th) amino acids in the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing is substituted by another amino acid;

[10] the method for modification according to [8], wherein the polypeptide of [A] is the polypeptide of the following [E], and the polypeptide of [B] is the polypeptide of the following [F]:

[E] a polypeptide consisting of an amino acid sequence showing homology with the amino acid sequence which is encoded by the open reading frame (ORF) composed of from the 704^(th) to 1315^(th) of the base sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 104 in the Sequence Listing, and

[F] a polypeptide consisting of an amino acid sequence showing homology with the amino acid sequence which is encoded by the ORF composed of from the 1^(st) to 680^(th) of the base sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 104 in the Sequence Listing;

[11] a method for modifying an enzyme having the nitrile hydratase activity, which comprises changing one or more properties selected from the enzymatic activity, substrate specificity, V_(max), K_(m), thermal stability, stability against the substrate and stability against the product, by specifying certain amino acid residues and performing substitution, insertion or deletion at one or more sites of the specified amino acid residues according to the following procedure:

(d′) aligning the amino acid sequence of the enzyme having the nitrile hydratase activity before modification, with the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing,

(e′) specifying, based on the results of the alignment, the amino acid residues corresponding to the 48^(th) and 51^(st) in the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing, and

(f′) performing substitution, insertion or deletion at one or more sites of the specified amino acid residues.

wherein among the two polypeptides constituting the enzyme having the nitrile hydratase activity before modification, one is the polypeptide of [E] according to [10] and the other is the polypeptide of [F] according to [10];

[12] the method for modification according to [8], wherein the polypeptide of [A] is the polypeptide of the following [G]:

[G] a polypeptide containing the region as represented by the amino acid sequence X₁CXLC₁SC₂X₂X₃X₄X₅ (SEQ ID NO: 142) (wherein C corresponds to cysteine, X to serine or threonine, L to leucine, C₁ to cysteine sulfinic acid (cysteine sulfinic acid.3-sulfinoalanine), S to serine, and C₂ to cysteine sulfenic acid (cysteine sulfenic acid.S-hydroxy-cysteine); and X₁, X₂, X₃, X₄ and X₅ represent arbitrary amino acid, respectively);

[13] the method for modification according to [12], wherein X₁ is valine, X₄ is tryptophan, and X₅ is proline;

[14] the method for modification according to [13], wherein X₂ is tyrosine and X₃ is proline;

[15] the method for modification according to any one of [12] to [14], wherein bonding with a metal atom is located in the region represented by X₁CXLC₁SC₂X₂X₃X₄X₅ (SEQ ID NO: 142);

[16] the method for modification according to [15], wherein the metal atom is a cobalt atom;

[17] a modified enzyme obtained by the method for modification according to any one of [1] to [16];

[18] a gene encoding the modified enzyme according to [17];

[19] a plasmid containing the gene according to [18];

[20] a transformant obtained by transformation of a microorganism with the gene according to [18] or the plasmid according to [19];

[21] a method for production of a modified enzyme, comprising the step of recovering a modified enzyme from a culture obtained from cultivating the transformant according to [20], the cultivated cells or a product obtained from the processing of the culture or the cultivated cells; and

[22] a method for production of an amide compound, characterized in comprising the step of bringing the modified enzyme that is obtained from a culture obtained from cultivating the transformant according to [20], the cultivated cells or a product obtained from the processing of the culture or the cultivated cells, or the method for production according to [21], into contact with a nitrile compound in a solvent to convert the nitrile compound to a corresponding amide compound.

The invention provides the amino acid sequence and the base sequence of the gene of a Pseudonocardia thermophila-derived nitrite hydratase which has a novel mutation point that does not change the fundamental function of nitrile hydratase. It also provides a plasmid containing the gene, a transformant containing the plasmid, a method for producing the enzyme using the transformant, and a method for processing a nitrile compound by using the transformant to produce a corresponding amide compound.

Further, the invention provides a method for modifying an enzyme having the nitrile hydratase activity before modification, by using the means characterized in changing the stereostructure of the enzyme having the nitrile hydratase activity. According to the method for modification using this means, an effect may be achieved that one or more properties selected from the enzyme activity, substrate specificity, V_(max), K_(m), thermal stability, stability against the substrate, stability against the product or the like is modified. Furthermore, the invention provides a nitrile hydratase having a novel mutation point, and a gene encoding the polypeptide chain constituting the enzyme. Also, the invention provides a plasmid containing the gene, a transformant containing the gene or the plasmid, a method for producing the enzyme using the transformant, and a method for processing a nitrile compound by using the transformant to produce a corresponding amide compound.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a restriction endonuclease cleavage map of a plasmid pPT-DB1 extracted from MT10822 (Reference Example 1, Examples 1 and 83).

FIG. 2 shows a restriction endonuclease cleavage map of a plasmid PJ1H-DB1 constructed in order to activate and express the Rhodococcus rhodochrous strain J1-derived nitrile hydratase (Example 84).

The abbreviations used in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 have the following meanings.

bla indicates the ORF encoding β-lactamase.

ColE1-ori indicates the replication-starting site in a ColE1 system.

lacZ indicates the promoter and operator region in pUC18-derived lactose operon.

NHα indicates the ORF encoding the α-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila-derived nitrile hydratase.

NHβ indicates the ORF encoding the β-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila-derived nitrile hydratase.

P16 indicates the ORF encoding a protein characterized in being involved in the activation of Pseudonocardia thermophila-derived nitrile hydratase.

nhhA indicates the ORF encoding the α-subunit of Rhodococcus rhodochrous strain J1-derived nitrile hydratase.

nhhB indicates the ORF encoding the β-subunit of Rhodococcus rhodochrous strain J1-derived nitrile hydratase.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Now, the invention will be explained in more detail.

The nitrile hydratase of the invention is obtained by introducing mutation into an enzyme having the nitrile hydratase activity, and for example, it is obtained by introducing mutation into Pseudonocardia thermophila-derived nitrile hydratase. Specifically, such nitrile hydratase fundamentally consisted of the amino acid sequences as set forth in SEQ ID NOs: 1 and 2 in the Sequence Listing, in which amino acid at one or more predetermined sites in the amino acid sequence is substituted by another amino acid. Thus, the invention comprises a nitrile hydratase having as its constituent the α-subunit represented by the sequence of 205 amino acids as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1 in the Sequence Listing, in which at least one amino acid in the amino acid sequence is substituted by another amino acid; a nitrile hydratase having as its constituent the β-subunit represented by the sequence of 233 amino acids as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 2 in the Sequence Listing, in which at least one amino acid in the amino acid sequence is substituted by another amino acid; and a nitrile hydratase having both of the above-mentioned substitution cases as its constituent.

According to the invention, the specific amino acid sequence-used for the nitrile hydratase obtained by introducing mutation into Pseudonocardia thermophila-derived nitrile hydratase, includes the following:

(a-0) the amino acid sequence of the α-subunit of SEQ ID NO: 1;

(a-1) an amino acid sequence having mutation in which at least one amino acid of the 36^(th), 71^(st), 148^(th) and 204^(th) amino acids in the amino acid sequence of the α-subunit as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1 is substituted by another amino acid;

(a-2) an amino acid sequence having mutation in which at least one amino acid of the 6^(th), 19^(th), 38^(th), 77^(th), 90^(th), 102^(nd), 106^(th), 126^(th), 130^(th), 142^(nd), 146^(th), 187^(th), 194^(th) and 203^(rd) amino acids in the amino acid sequence of the α-subunit as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1 is substituted by another amino acid;

(b-0) the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 2 in the Sequence Listing;

(b-1) an amino acid sequence having mutation in which at least one amino acid of the 10^(th), 32^(nd), 37^(th), 41^(st), 46^(th), 48^(th), 51^(st), 72^(nd), 118^(th), 127^(th), 146^(th), 160^(th), 186^(th) and 217^(th) amino acids in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 2 is substituted by another amino acid; and

(b-2) an amino acid sequence having mutation in which at least one amino acid of the 20^(th), 21^(st), 108^(th), 200^(th), and 212^(th) amino acids in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 2 is substituted by another amino acid.

Each of the above-mentioned mutations at least makes it possible to maintain the nitrile hydratase activity before modification.

According to the invention, the nitrile hydratase obtained by introducing mutation into Pseudonocardia thermophila-derived nitrile hydratase, consists of the following constituents having an amino acid sequence selected from the above (a-0) to (b-2):

(A-1) nitrile hydratase in which the α-subunit has the amino acid sequence containing the mutation of (a-1) above;

(A-2) nitrile hydratase in which the α-subunit has the amino acid sequence containing the mutations of (a-1) and (a-2) above;

(B-1) nitrile hydratase in which the β-subunit has the amino acid sequence containing the mutation of (b-1) above;

(B-2) nitrile hydratase in which the β-subunit has the amino acid sequence containing the mutations of (b-1) and (b-2) above;

(A-3) nitrile hydratase in which the α-subunit has the amino acid sequence containing the mutation of (a-1) above and the β-subunit has the amino acid sequence of (b-0) above;

(A-4) nitrile hydratase in which the α-subunit has the amino acid sequence containing the mutation of (a-1) above and the β-subunit has the amino acid sequence containing the mutation of (b-1) above;

(A-5) nitrile hydratase in which the α-subunit has the amino acid sequence containing the mutation of (a-1) above and the β-subunit has the amino acid sequence containing the mutation of (b-2) above;

(A-6) nitrite hydratase in which the α-subunit has the amino acid sequence containing the mutation of (a-1) above and the β-subunit has the amino acid sequence containing the mutations of (b-1) and (b-2) above;

(A-7) nitrite hydratase in which the α-subunit has the amino acid sequence containing the mutations of (a-1) and (a-2) above and the β-subunit has the amino acid sequence of (b-0) above;

(A-8) nitrite hydratase in which the α-subunit has the amino acid sequence containing the mutations of (a-1) and (a-2) above and the β-subunit has the amino acid sequence containing the mutation of (b-1) above;

(A-9) nitrite hydratase in which the α-subunit has the amino acid sequence containing the mutations of (a-1) and (a-2) above and the β-subunit has the amino acid sequence containing the mutation of (b-2) above;

(A-10) nitrite hydratase in which the α-subunit has the amino acid sequence containing the mutations of (a-1) and (a-2) above and the β-subunit has the amino acid sequence containing the mutations of (b-1) and (b-2) above;

(B-3) nitrite hydratase in which the α-subunit has the amino acid sequence of (a-0) above and the β-subunit has the amino acid sequence of (b-1);

(B-4) nitrite hydratase in which the α-subunit has the amino acid sequence of (a-0) above and the β-subunit has the amino acid sequence containing the mutations of (b-1) and (b-2) above; and

(B-5) nitrile hydratase in which the α-subunit has the amino acid sequence containing the mutation of (a-2) above and the β-subunit has the amino acid sequence containing the mutations of (b-1) and (b-2) above.

In addition, with respect to the amino acids other than the above-mentioned specific mutation sites, substitution, insertion and deletion of amino acids may occur within the scope of not impairing the nitrile hydratase activity intended by mutation at the specific sites.

According to the invention, the nitrile hydratase gene obtained by introducing mutation into Pseudonocardia thermophila-derived nitrile hydratase contains the gene encoding the α-subunit of nitrile hydratase and the gene encoding the β-subunit of nitrile hydratase.

As a family of genes involved in the invention, mention may be made of those subjected to introduction of mutation into the gene of Pseudonocardia thermophila-derived nitrile hydratase, and they include the gene encoding the amino acid sequence of the α-subunit; the gene encoding the β-subunit; and the nitrile hydratase gene having both of the gene encoding the α-subunit and the gene encoding the β-subunit.

More specifically, the following can be mentioned.

(G-1) a gene having the base sequence that codes for the amino acid sequence having the mutation of the above-mentioned (a-1);

(G-2) a gene having the base sequence that codes for the amino acid sequence having the mutations of the above-mentioned (a-1) and (a-2);

(G-3) a gene having the base sequence that codes for the amino acid sequence having the mutation of the above-mentioned (b-1);

(G-4) a gene having the base sequence that codes for the amino acid sequence having the mutations of the above-mentioned (b-1) and (b-2); and

(G-5) a gene having the base sequence that codes for any one of the nitrile hydratases of the above-mentioned (A-1) to (B-4).

As the base sequence encoding the amino acid sequence of the α-subunit of SEQ ID NO: 1 which serves as the bases for the above-mentioned mutations, the base sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 is preferable. Also, as the base sequence encoding the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of SEQ ID NO: 2 which serves as the bases for the above-mentioned mutations, the base sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4 is preferable.

For example, the mutation of (a-1) above which is based on SEQ ID NO: 3 can be obtained by substituting at least one base sequence among the 106^(th) to 108^(th), 211^(th) to 213^(th), 442^(nd) to 444^(th), and 610^(th) to 612^(th) of the base sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3, by another base sequence.

Further, the mutation of (a-2) above which is based on SEQ ID NO: 3 can be obtained by the substitution of a portion of the base sequence obtained by substituting at least one base sequence among the 16^(th) to 18^(th), 55^(th) to 57^(th), 112^(th) to 114^(th), 229^(th) to 231^(st), 268^(th) to 270^(th), 304^(th) to 306^(th), 316^(th) to 318^(th), 376^(th) to 378^(th), 388^(th) to 390^(th), 424^(th) to 426^(th), 436^(th) to 438^(th), 559^(th) to 561^(st), 580^(th) to 582^(nd), and 607^(th) to 60^(th) of the base sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3, by another base sequence.

Meanwhile, the mutation of (b-1) above which is based on SEQ ID NO: 4 can be obtained by the substitution of a portion of the base sequence obtained by substituting at least one base sequence among the 28^(th) to 30^(th), 94^(th) to 96^(th), 109^(th) to 111^(th), 121^(st) to 123^(rd), 136^(th) to 138^(th), 142^(nd) to 144^(th), 151^(st) to 153^(rd), 214^(th) to 216^(th), 352^(nd) to 354^(th), 379^(th) to 381^(st), 436^(th) to 438^(th), 478^(th) to 480^(th), 556^(th) to 558^(th), and 649^(th) to 651^(st) of the base sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4, by another base sequence.

Further, the mutation of (b-2) above which is based on SEQ ID NO: 4 can be obtained by the substitution of a portion of the base sequence obtained by substituting at least one base sequence among the 58^(th) to 60^(th), 61^(st) to 63^(rd), 322^(nd) to 324^(th), 598^(th) to 600^(th), and 634^(th) to 636^(th) of the base sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4, by another base sequence.

These substitutions are carried out within the scope such that the activity of the nitrile hydratase into which at least one of the α- and β-subunits encoded by the respective genes is combined and inserted, maintains or improves the state before substitution. Also, there is no particular limitation on the means for introducing mutation.

With regard to the sites other than the mutation sites of (a-1), (a-2), (b-1) and (b-2) above in the nitrile hydratase genes of the invention, they may have additional mutations involving substitution, insertion or deletion of bases, within the scope that the gene can function as the template for the protein having the nitrile hydratase activity.

Such additional mutations may be exemplified by the following. Even in the case where transcription and translation are carried out using a gene having a certain base sequence as the template, depending on conditions such as the type of the host cell incorporating the gene, the components or composition of the nutrition medium used in cultivation, the temperature or pH during cultivations or the like, modification by enzymes within the host cell after expression of the gene can lead to production of mutants in which one or two or more amino acids near the N-terminal in the Sequence Listing are deleted, or one or two or more amino acids are newly added at the N-terminal, with the intended enzymatic action being still maintained. For this reason, such mutant nitrile hydratases are also to be included in the scope of invention.

Meanwhile, the plasmid for the production of the nitrile hydratase of the invention can be prepared by using the nitrile hydratase genes. Specific examples thereof may include the following:

(P-1) a plasmid having the base sequence that codes for the amino acid sequence having the mutation of the above-mentioned (a-1);

(P-2) a plasmid having the base sequence that codes for the amino acid sequence having the mutations of the above-mentioned (a-1) and (a-2);

(P-3) a plasmid having the base sequence that codes for the amino acid sequence having the mutation of the above-mentioned (b-1)

(P-4) a plasmid having the base sequence that codes for the amino acid sequence having the mutations of the above-mentioned (b-1) and (b-2); and

(P-5) a plasmid having the base sequences that code for several nitrile hydratases of the above-mentioned (A-1) to (B-4).

Furthermore, the transformant or strain of the invention is obtained by transforming an arbitrary host cell using the plasmid. The method for production of nitrile hydratase of the invention comprises a step of producing nitrile hydratase by cultivating the transformant or strain. Also, the method for production of amide compound of the invention comprises a step of bringing a culture obtained by the cultivation of such transformant or strain producing nitrile hydratase, the cultivated cells or a product obtained by processing the cultivated cells into contact with a nitrile compound in a medium to produce a corresponding amide compound.

Next, the method for modifying the enzyme having the nitrile hydratase activity of the invention will be explained in detail.

According to the invention, the nitrile hydratase activity means the activity of hydrating a nitrile compound into a corresponding amide compound. The enzyme having this activity is in general characterized in that it comprises two types of polypeptide chains called the α-subunit and the β-subunit as the constituent, and the nitrile hydratase gene refers to the two amino acid sequences having the feature of forming those two polypeptide chains or to the base sequences constituting the two ORFs having the feature of encoding the amino acid sequences.

To illustrate specifically on Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase (see SEQ ID NOs: 98 and 99 in the Sequence Listing, Patent Document 3, Non-patent Document 4, and PDB ID NO: 1IRE) as an example, the polypeptide consisting of the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 98 in the Sequence Listing as well as Chain A in the stereostructure of nitrile hydratase as set forth in PDB ID NO: 1IRE is the α-subunit; and the polypeptide consisting of the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing as well as Chain B in the stereostructure of nitrile hydratase as set forth in PDB ID NO: 1IRE is the β-subunit. Further, the ORF composed of the base sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 100 in the Sequence Listing and the ORF composed of the base sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 101 in the Sequence Listing are referred to as the nitrile hydratase gene.

In addition, in the case of Rhodococcus rhodochrous strain J1-derived nitrile hydratase (see SEQ ID NO: 104 in the Sequence Listing, Patent Document 2 and Non-patent Document 1), the polypeptide consisting of the amino acid sequence that is encoded by the ORF formed by the 704^(th) to 1315^(th) of the base sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 104 in the Sequence Listing is the α-subunit; the polypeptide consisting of the amino acid sequence that is encoded by the ORF formed by the 1^(st) to 690^(th) of the base sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 104 in the Sequence Listing is the β-subunit; and the two ORFs encoded by the base sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 104 in the Sequence Listing are the nitrile hydratase gene.

The method for modification as used in the invention means a method directed to changing the stereostructure of an enzyme having the nitrile hydratase activity before modification for the purpose of changing one or more properties among the enzymatic activity, substrate specificity, V_(max), K_(m), thermal stability, stability against the substrate and stability against the product, without impairing the original nitrile hydratase activity. As the feature of the method, it can be mentioned that the method comprises a step of specifying, based on an interpretation of the stereostructure, the region forming a cavity through which a substrate passes from the outside of the enzyme toward the active center or a product passes from the active center toward the outside of the enzyme, and/or the region forming an associative interface between the α-subunit and the β-subunit which is involved in the formation of dimers or an interface which is involved in the association of dimers, and applying alterations such as substitution, insertion or deletion at one or more amino acids in the amino acid sequence which correspond to the amino acid residues that are present in the regions.

To illustrate specifically on Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase (see SEQ ID NOs: 98 and 99 in the Sequence Listing, Patent Document 3, Non-patent Document 4, and PDB ID NO: 1IRE) as an example, for the amino acid residues corresponding to those present in the region forming a cavity through which a substrate passes from the outside of the enzyme toward the active center or a product passes from the active center toward the outside of the enzyme, mention may be made of the amino acid residues forming the region that corresponds to the 1^(st) helix and 2^(nd) helix as counted from the N-terminal of Chain B and the loop portions inserted in the helices in the nitrile hydratase stereostructure as set forth in PDB ID NO: 1IRE; the amino acid residues whose side-chain front-end heavy atoms are located within 5 Å of radius in the respective stereostructures having as the point center, each of the side-chain front-end heavy atoms of the four amino acid residues which correspond to the 89^(th) amino acid residue glutamine and the 165^(th) amino acid residue glutamic acid as counted from the N-terminal of Chain A, and to the 37^(th) amino acid residue phenylalanine and the 48^(th) amino acid residue leucine as counted from the N-terminal of Chain B in the nitrile hydratase stereostructure as set forth in PDB ID NO: 1IRE; the amino acid residues corresponding to the region extending from the 36^(th) threonine to 48^(th) asparagine of the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 98 in the Sequence Listing, to the region extending from the 31^(st) lysine to the 51^(st) phenylalanine and to the region extending from the 112^(th) lysine to 127^(th) leucine of the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing; and the amino acid residues corresponding to the 37^(th), 40^(th), 41^(st), 46^(th), 48^(th), 51^(st), 61^(st), 72^(nd), 112^(th), 118^(th) and 127^(th) of the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing; or the like.

Furthermore, for the amino acid residues corresponding to those present in the region forming an associative interface between the α-subunit and the β-subunit which is involved in the formation of dimers or an interface which is involved in the association of dimers, mention may be made of the amino acid residues corresponding to the 2^(nd) helix as counted from the N-terminal of Chain A and the 2^(nd) helix as counted from the N-terminal of Chain B in the nitrile hydratase stereostructure as set forth in PDB ID NO: 1IRE, to the region extending from the 36^(th) threonine to the 48^(th) asparagine of the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 98 in the Sequence Listing, and to the region extending from the 112^(th) lysine to the 127^(th) leucine of the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing; the amino acid residues corresponding to the 36^(th), 71^(st), 148^(th), 188^(th) and 204^(th) of the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 98 in the Sequence Listing; the amino acid residues corresponding to the 10^(th), 32^(nd), 33^(rd), 112^(th), 118^(th), 127^(th), 146^(th), 150^(th), 160^(th), 168^(th), 171^(st), 176^(th), 186^(th), 217^(th) and 218^(th) of the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing; or the like.

In addition, as the method for specifying, among the amino acid residues constituting the region that forms a cavity through which a substrate passes from the outside of the enzyme toward the active center or a product passes from the active center toward the outside of the enzyme, the amino acid residues whose alteration leads to a change in the cavity size and further controls the easiness or difficulty in passing of the substrate/product, mention may be made of a method for specifying the four amino acid residues which correspond to the 89^(th) amino acid glutamine (A89Q) and the 165^(th) amino acid glutamic acid (A165E) as counted from the N-terminal of Chain A, and to the 37^(th) amino acid phenylalanine (B37F) and the 48^(th) amino acid leucine (B48L) as counted from the N-terminal of Chain B in the nitrile hydratase stereostructure as set forth in PDB ID NO: 1IRE; a method for specifying the amino acid residues which effect a change in at least one of d1 to d5, when the shortest distance between the heavy atoms of the amino acid residue corresponding to A165E and of the amino acid residue corresponding to B48L is designated as d1; the shortest distance between the heavy atoms of the amino acid residue corresponding to A89Q and of the amino acid residue corresponding to B48L as d2; the shortest distance between the heavy atoms of the amino acid residue corresponding to B37F and of the amino acid residue corresponding to B48L is designated as d3; the shortest distance between the heavy atoms of the amino acid residue corresponding to A165E and of the amino acid residue corresponding to B37F as d4; and the shortest distance between the heavy atoms of the amino acid residue corresponding to A89Q and of the amino acid residue corresponding to B37F as d5; a method for specifying the amino acid residues which effect a change in at least one of the above-described d1 to d5, or for specifying the amino acid residues which effect a change in at least one of the above-described d1 to d3; or the like.

Therefore, the invention includes any method for modification, comprising a step of applying alterations such as substitution, insertion or deletion at amino acids in the amino acid sequence which correspond to at least one amino acid residues as specified in the above-described manner in a subject nitrile hydratase (Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived one may be mentioned as a representative example).

Furthermore, the invention also includes the method for modification by aligning a nitrile hydratase (for example, a Rhodococcus rhodochrous strain J1-derived nitrile hydratase) derived from a biological species other than Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095 with the stereostructure or the amino acid sequence of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase, finding the amino acid residues corresponding to the above-mentioned amino acid residues and altering the amino acids in the corresponding amino acid sequences.

In carrying out the subject matters described above, the means used to implementing alignment based on the stereostructure or amino acid sequence is not particularly limited. However, as exemplary means for the alignment of amino acid sequence, software for genomic sequence interpretation such as DNASIS (manufactured by Hitachi Software Engineering Co., Ltd.) or a free software ClustalW or BLAST may be mentioned; and as exemplary means for the modeling of stereostructure based on the amino acid sequence alignment, software for predicting protein stereostructure such as Modeler and Homology (products by Accelrys Software, Inc.) may be mentioned.

Speaking of an example, in the case of a Rhodococcus rhodochrous strain J1-derived nitrile hydratase (see SEQ ID NO: 104 in the Sequence Listing, Patent Document 2 and Non-patent Document 1), the results of alignment show that the amino acid residue corresponding to the amino acid residue: Leu which corresponds to the 48^(th) of the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing is the amino acid residue: Trp corresponding to the 48^(th) of the amino acid sequence which is encoded by the ORF formed by the 1^(st) to 690^(th) of the base sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 104 in the Sequence Listing; and the amino acid residue corresponding to the amino acid residue: Phe which corresponds to the 51^(st) of the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing is the amino acid residue: Ser corresponding to the 51^(st) of the amino acid sequence which is encoded by the ORF formed by the 1^(st) to 690^(th) of the base sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 104 in the Sequence Listing. The results are consistent with the alignment results based on amino acid sequence and the alignment results based on stereostructure. The invention also includes the method for modification by altering any one or both of the amino acids in the amino acid sequence which corresponds to these two amino acid residues.

Moreover, in carrying out the above-described method for modification, the means for introducing mutation to alter amino acids in the amino acid sequence corresponding to amino acid residues is not particularly limited. But, an example may include a method for introducing mutation of substituting an amino acid in the amino acid sequence with another amino acid by means of recombinant gene technology.

Furthermore, with respect to any changes in the amino acid sequence or base sequence resulting from a mutation additionally introduced in addition to the intentionally introduced mutation, substitution, insertion or deletion of an amino acid or a base may occur within the scope of not impairing the desired nitrile hydratase activity achieved by the intended introduction of mutation.

Such additionally introduced mutation may be exemplified by the following. Even in the case where transcription and translation are carried out using a gene having a certain base sequence as the template, depending on conditions such as the type of the host cell incorporating the gene, the components or composition of the nutrition medium used in cultivation, the temperature or pH during cultivation, or the like, modification by enzymes inside the host cell after expression of the gene can lead to production of mutants in which one or two or more amino acids near the N-terminal in the Sequence Listing are deleted, or one or two or, more amino acids are newly added at the N-terminal, with the initial enzymatic action being still maintained. For this reason, such method for modification resulting in mutant nitrile hydratases is also to be included in the scope of invention.

As exemplary nitrile hydratases before modification which serve as the subject for the method for modification according to the invention, a Rhodococcus rhodochrous strain J1-derived nitrile hydratase and a Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase may be mentioned. More specifically, mention may be made of a nitrile hydratase comprising as its constituents the polypeptide chain formed by an amino acid sequence which is homologous to the amino acid sequence encoded by the ORF which is formed by the 1^(st) to 690^(th) of the base sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 104 in the Sequence Listing and the polypeptide chain formed by an amino acid sequence which is homologous to the amino acid sequence encoded by the ORF which is formed by the 704^(th) to 1315^(th) of the base sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 104 in the Sequence Listing; a nitrile hydratase comprising as its constituents the polypeptide chain formed from the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 98 in the Sequence Listing and the polypeptide chain formed from the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing.

The nitrile hydratase before modification which serve as the subject for the method for modification according to the invention may also include a nitrile hydratase comprising as its constituents the polypeptide formed from an amino acid sequence which shows homology of 40% or greater with the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 98 in the Sequence Listing and the polypeptide formed from an amino acid sequence which shows homology of 25% or greater with the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing.

Examples of the polypeptide formed from an amino acid sequence which shows homology of 40% or greater with the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 98 in the Sequence Listing may include the polypeptide formed from the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 98 in the Sequence Listing; the polypeptide formed from an amino acid sequence in which arbitrary alteration such as substitution, insertion or deletion is applied to at least one site of the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 98; the polypeptide formed from an amino acid sequence in which at least one amino acid selected from the 6^(th), 19^(th), 38^(th), 77^(th), 90^(th), 102^(nd), 106^(th), 126^(th), 130^(th), 142^(nd), 146^(th), 187^(th), 194^(th) and 203^(rd) amino acids in the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 98 in the Sequence Listing is substituted by another amino acid; the polypeptide formed from an amino acid sequence that is homologous to the amino acid sequence encoded by the ORF which is formed by the 704^(th) to 1315^(th) of the base sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 104 in the Sequence Listing; or the like.

Further, the polypeptide formed from an amino acid sequence which shows homology of 40% or greater with the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 98 in the Sequence Listing is characterized, in some cases, in that it is a polypeptide containing a region represented by X₁CXLC₁SC₂X₂X₃X₄X₅ (SEQ ID NO: 142) (wherein C corresponds to cysteine, X to serine or threonine, L to leucine, C₁ to cysteine sulfinic acid (cysteine sulfinic acid·3-sulfinoalanine), S to serine, and C₂ to cysteine sulfenic acid (cysteine sulfenic acid.S-hydroxy-cysteine); and X₁, X₂, X₃, X₄ and X₅ represent arbitrary amino acid, respectively) in the sequence. Additionally, the polypeptide is also characterized, in some cases, in that X₁ is valine, X₄ is tryptophan, and X₅ is proline. Again, the polypeptide is also characterized, in some cases, in that X₂ is tyrosine and X₃ is proline.

In the above-mentioned cases, the polypeptide is in some cases characterized in being bonded to a metal atom via the region represented by X₁CXLC₁SC₂X₂X₃X₄X₅ (SEQ ID NO: 142). In addition, this metal is in some cases characterized in being cobalt.

Examples of the polypeptide formed from an amino acid sequence which shows homology of 25% or greater with the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing may include the polypeptide formed from the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing; the polypeptide formed from an amino acid sequence in which arbitrary alteration such as substitution, insertion or deletion is applied to at least one site of the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing; the polypeptide formed from an amino acid sequence in which at least one amino acid selected from the 20^(th), 21^(st), 108^(th), 200^(th) and 212^(th) amino acids in the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing is substituted by another amino acid; the polypeptide formed from an amino acid sequence that is homologous to the amino acid sequence encoded by the ORF which is formed by the 1^(st) to 690^(th) of the base sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 104 in the Sequence Listing; or the like.

Speaking of an example, in the case of Rhodococcus rhodochrous strain J1-derived nitrile hydratase, since it is a nitrile hydratase comprising as its constituents the polypeptide formed from the amino acid sequence that is encoded by the ORF which is formed by the 704^(th) to 1315^(th) of the base sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 104 in the Sequence Listing, and the polypeptide formed from the amino acid sequence that is encoded by the ORF which is formed by the 1^(st) to 690^(th) of the base sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 104 in the Sequence Listing, it is included in the scope of nitrile hydratase before modification, which is the subject of the method for modification according to the invention.

Also, since Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase is a nitrile hydratase comprising as its constituents the polypeptide formed from the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 98 in the Sequence Listing and the polypeptide formed from the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing, it is also included in the scope of nitrile hydratase before modification, which is the subject of the method for modification according to the invention.

Furthermore, as an example of the nitrile hydratase derived from Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase, mention may be made of a nitrile hydratase satisfying any one or both in the cases of a nitrile hydratase in which, among the constituents of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase, the polypeptide formed from the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 98 in the Sequence Listing is replaced by the polypeptide formed from an amino acid sequence in which arbitrary alteration such as substitution, insertion or deletion is applied to at least one site of the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 98 in the Sequence Listing, or by the polypeptide formed from an amino acid sequence in which at least one amino acid of the 6^(th), 19^(th), 38^(th), 77^(th), 90^(th), 102^(nd), 106^(th), 126^(th), 130^(th), 142^(nd), 146^(th), 187^(th), 194^(th) and 203^(rd) amino acids in the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 98 in the Sequence Listing is substituted by another amino acid; and a nitrile hydratase in which the polypeptide formed from the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing is replaced by the polypeptide formed from an amino acid sequence in which arbitrary alteration such as substitution, insertion or deletion is applied to at least one site of the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing, or by the polypeptide formed from an amino acid sequence in which at least one amino acid of the 20^(th), 21^(st), 108^(th), 200^(th) and 212^(th) amino acids in the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 99 in the Sequence Listing is substituted by another amino acid.

A nitrile hydratase derived from Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase is also included in the scope of nitrile hydratase before modification, which is the subject of the method for modification according to the invention.

According to the invention, a modified enzyme means a nitrile hydratase obtained by carrying out the method for modification using an enzyme having the nitrile hydratase activity as the subject of the method. An example thereof may include a modified enzyme characterized in being obtained by changing the character of a nitrile hydratase before modification by using the above-described methods for modification.

For the change of characters, as compared with a nitrile hydratase before modification, mention may be made of change in one or more properties such as the substrate specificity, V_(max), K_(m), thermal stability, stability against the substrate (for example, an arbitrary nitrile compound which can be converted to a corresponding amide compound upon the action of the enzyme as a catalyst), stability against the product (for example, the corresponding amide compound obtained by converting an arbitrary nitrile compound upon the action of the enzyme as a catalyst) or the like. Specific examples may include the following:

(1) It becomes easy to take a nitrile compound with relatively larger bulkiness as the substrate.

(2) It becomes easy to take a nitrile compound with relatively smaller bulkiness as the substrate

(3) V_(max) in the case of taking an arbitrary nitrile compound as the substrate, increases

(4) K_(m) in the case of taking an arbitrary nitrile compound as the substrate, decreases.

(5) The rate of irreversible deactivation in the case of exposing the enzyme to an arbitrary amount of heat, decreases.

(6) The rate of irreversible deactivation in the case of exposing the enzyme to the substrate at an arbitrary concentration, decreases.

(7) The rate of reaction inhibition due to the presence of the product at an arbitrary concentration during the reaction, decreases.

(8) The rate of irreversible deactivation in the case of exposing the enzyme to the product at an arbitrary concentration, decreases, or the like.

As an index for the change of character resulting from carrying out the method for modification on a nitrile hydratase before modification according to the invention, the change in the substrate specificity may be mentioned as one representative example. When a modified enzyme as obtained according to the method for modifying the invention is one that has undergone a change in the substrate specificity, the modified enzyme is included in the scope of modified enzyme according to the invention.

As the method for observing the change in substrate specificity of thus obtained modified enzyme, mention may be made of a method of carrying out the reaction using a plurality of nitrile compounds of different bulkiness as the substrate and determining the difference in the quantities of the produced corresponding amide compounds. As an example thereof, the reaction is carried out, on the one hand, using acrylonitrile as the substrate to produce acrylamide, and on the other hand, using methacrylonitrile as the substrate to produce methacrylamide, and the molar ratio of the two products may be compared. In this case, a modified enzyme which results in a change such that the value of [moles of produced methacrylamide]÷[moles of produced acrylamide] has increased as compared with the value obtained by an enzyme before modification, can be said to have undergone a change in character to facilitate the reaction using a nitrile compound with larger bulkiness as the substrate. Similarly, a modified enzyme which results in a change such that the value has decreased, can be said to have undergone a change in character to facilitate the reaction using a nitrile compound with smaller bulkiness as the substrate.

In an exemplary study with Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase and a nitrile hydratase derived from Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase, when the process for modification is carried out comprising the step of specifying, according to the interpretation of stereostructure, the region forming a cavity through which a substrate passes from the outside of the enzyme toward the active center or a product passes from the active center toward the outside of the enzyme, and/or the region forming an associative interface between the α-subunit and the β-subunit which is involved in the formation of dimers or an interface which is involved in the association of dimers, and applying alterations such as substitution, insertion or deletion at one or more amino acids in the amino acid sequence which correspond to the amino acid residues present in these regions, a modified enzyme which has undergone a change in the molar ratio between acrylamide produced from the reaction using acrylonitrile as the substrate and methacrylamide produced from the reaction using methacrylonitrile as the substrate, as compared with an enzyme before modification, could be obtained. Since this can be viewed as a change in substrate specificity, that is, a change of characters, the modified enzyme as obtained above is included in the scope of modified enzyme according to the invention.

In a study with Rhodococcus rhodochrous strain J1-derived nitrile hydratase, when the process for modification was carried out by altering the amino acid residue: Trp which corresponds to the 48^(th) of the amino acid sequence encoded by the ORF that is formed by the 1^(st) to 690^(th) of the base sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 104 in the Sequence Listing to another amino acid residue, the enzyme showed a change in character to facilitate the reaction using a nitrile compound with larger bulkiness as the substrate, as compared with the subject before modification. Thus, the protein showing the change of character as achieved as such is included in the scope of modified enzyme according to the invention.

Furthermore, it can be easily deduced that combining the mutation sites of a modified enzyme thus obtained will lead to an additional change of character. Accordingly, a modified enzyme obtained by such combining of mutation sites is also included in the scope of modified enzyme according to the invention.

According to the invention, the gene encoding a modified enzyme means the two amino acid sequences having the feature of forming the two types of polypeptide chains which constitute the modified enzyme, or the base sequences forming the two ORFs having the feature of encoding the amino acid sequences.

According to the invention, the plasmid having the feature of containing the gene means the plasmid having the feature of containing in its sequence, the base sequences forming the two ORFs which have the feature of encoding the two amino acid sequences that are characterized in forming the two polypeptide chains constituting the modified enzyme.

The plasmid can have, in addition to the gene according to the invention, a constitution which enables the production of a modified enzyme by means of a transformant or a strain obtained by transforming an arbitrary host cell, such as the regulatory region necessary for the expression of each gene, the region necessary for autonomous replication or the like. The arbitrary host cell as used herein may be exemplified by Escherichia coli as used in an embodiment of the below-described Examples, though not intended to be limited to this. Use can be also made of other microorganisms such as Bacillus species such as Bacillus subtilis, yeast or Streptomyces species.

The regulatory region necessary for expression may include a promoter sequence (including the transcription-regulating operator sequence), a ribosome binding sequence (SD sequence), a transcription-terminating sequence and the like.

Specific examples of the promoter sequence may include the trp promoter of E. coli-derived tryptophan operon, the lac promoter of lactose operon, the lambda-phage-derived PL promoter and PR promoter, or the B. subtilis-derived gluconic acid synthetase promoter (gnt), the alkali protease promoter (apr), the neutral protease promoter (npr), the α-amylase promoter (amy) and the like. Further, artificially designed or improved sequences such as the tac promoter or trc promoter can be also used.

The ribosome binding sequence may be exemplified by the E. coli-derived sequence, B. subtilis-derived sequence or the original sequences of Rhodococcus or Pseudonocardia, but it is not particularly limited as long as it works in a desired host cell such as E. coli or B. subtilis. For example, a consensus sequence comprising a series of 4 or more consecutive bases that are complementary to the 3′-terminal region of 16S ribosome RNA can be prepared by DNA synthesis and used. The transcription-terminating sequence is not essentially required, but one that is not ρ factor-dependent, for example, lipoprotein terminator, trp operon terminator or the like may be used. The sequence order of these regulatory regions on a plasmid is preferably such that the promoter sequence and the ribosome binding sequence are located further upstream to the 5′-terminal than the gene according to the invention, and the transcription-terminating sequence is preferably located further downstream to the 3′-terminal than the gene according to the invention. Also, the base sequences respectively encoding the ORFs which constitute the gene according to the invention may be expressed as individual independent cistrons by means of such regulatory regions, or may be expressed as a polycistron by means of a common regulatory region.

Examples of the plasmid vector satisfying the above requirements may include pBR322, pUC18, pBluescript, pKK223-3 and pSC101, which have a region capable of autonomous replication in E. coli, or pUB110, pTZ4, pC194, ρ 11, φ 1 and φ 105 which have a region capable of autonomous replication in B. subtilis, and the like. Further, examples of the plasmid vector capable of autonomous replication in two or more species of host cells may include pHV14, TRp7, YEp7 and pBS7.

When a nitrile hydratase having the desired activity to express the gene according to the invention is produced, a protein involved in the activation of nitrile hydratase may be required in some cases.

A protein involved in the activation of nitrile hydratase is a protein having the property such that the presence or absence of the expression of the protein directly controls the activation of nitrile hydratase, and it can be exemplified by the protein involved in the activation of Pseudonocardia thermophila-derived nitrile hydratase (nitrile hydratase-activating protein) as described in Patent Document 4. More specifically, the nitrile hydratase-activating protein may be exemplified by one constituted by the sequence of 144 amino acids as presented in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 102. Also, the mutant proteins obtained by substitution, insertion or deletion of amino acids in part of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 102 are to be included in the nitrile hydratase-activating protein, as long as they are involved in the activation of nitrile hydratase. For such mutant proteins, mention may be made of those having mutation such as substitution, insertion or deletion of one or more amino acids with respect to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 102 and maintaining the property involved in the activation of nitrile hydratase.

The gene encoding the nitrile hydratase-activating protein is not particularly limited as long as it is a gene that codes for the nitrile hydratase-activating protein. Such gene may be exemplified by the gene having the base sequence which codes for the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 102 and the genes that code for the mutant proteins. Further, as a preferred example of the gene encoding the nitrile hydratase-activating protein, the gene having the base sequence of SEQ ID NO: 103 may be mentioned. Also, if a gene encoding the nitrile hydratase-activating protein functions as the gene encoding the nitrile hydratase-activating protein, even though it is a sequence having substitution, insertion or deletion of one or two or more bases with respect to the base sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 103, then the gene is to be included in the scope of genes encoding the nitrile hydratase-activating protein.

As an example of the case of using the gene encoding the nitrile hydratase-activating protein, mention may be made of one in which the ORF of the gene is included into the plasmid of the invention together with the two ORFs forming the gene according to the invention. In this case, the order of these ORFs on the plasmid is not particularly limited. Also, three ORFs may be regulated by the same regulatory region; two of the ORFs may be regulated by the same regulatory region, the other one of the ORFs being regulated by a regulatory region different from the former; or the three ORFs may be each regulated by different regulatory regions.

For a method of constructing the plasmid of the invention by inserting the gene according to the invention into such vector plasmid, together with those regions necessary for expression of the activity of the modified enzyme according to the invention, or a method of transforming a desired host cell using the plasmid and a method of producing nitrile hydratase in the transformant, use can be made of those general methods and host cells known in the art of molecular biology, biological engineering and genetic engineering as described in, for example, “Molecular Cloning, 3^(rd) ed.” (J. Sambrook et al., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 2001) or the like.

According to the invention, the transformant characterized in being obtained by transformation includes those obtained by transforming a host cell using the gene or plasmid according to the invention. As an example of cultivating the transformant, a method of inoculating the transformant in a culture medium and then incubating it at a suitable cultivating temperature (in general, 20° C. to 50° C.) may be mentioned.

Further, when the host cell is a microorganism, LB medium, M9 medium or the like is generally used as the culture medium for cultivating the transformant, and metal ions may be added to such medium. The metal ion to be added may be Fe ion and Co ion. The amount of addition may be, for example, 0.1 μg/mL or greater.

For the method for producing a modified enzyme characterized in comprising a step of recovering a modified enzyme from a culture obtained by cultivating the transformant, the cultivated cells, or a product of processing the culture or cells according to the invention, mention may be made of one comprising a step of recovering the nitrile hydratase activity from the transformant, a culture of the transformant, or a product of processing the transformant or the culture.

For the method for producing an amide compound characterized in comprising a step of converting a nitrile compound to a corresponding amide compound according to the invention, mention may be made of one comprising a step of using as the catalyst the nitrile hydratase activity recovered from the transformant, a culture of the transformant, or a product of processing the transformant or the culture, or according to the above-mentioned method for production, to convert a nitrile compound to a corresponding amide compound.

As an example of the method of using the modified enzyme according to the invention or a transformant having the enzyme activity to process a nitrile compound to produce a corresponding amide compound, mention may be made of a method comprising a step of bringing the desired nitrile compound into contact with a purification product or a crude enzyme product of the enzyme, with a culture for the transformant according to the invention, with a transformant obtained from the culture, or with a product of processing the transformant, in a solvent. The product of processing as used herein includes an extract or a disruption product of the transformant, a post-separation product such as a crude enzyme product obtained by isolating the nitrile hydratase activated fraction from such extract or disruption product, an enzyme purification product obtained by further purification or the like; and an immobilization product in which the transformant, or an extract, a disruption product or a post-separation product of the transformant is immobilized by suitable means. The contact temperature is not particularly limited, but it is preferably in the temperature range of not deactivating the nitrile hydratase, and more preferably from the freezing point or higher to 60° C. or lower.

As the nitrile compound, there is no particular limitation as long as it is a compound which can act as the substrate for the modified enzyme of the invention, and examples may include nitrile compounds having 2 to 4 carbon atoms, such as acetonitrile, propionitrile, acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, n-butyronitrile, isobutyronitrile, crotononitrile, α-hydroxyisobutyronitrile and the like. The concentration of such nitrile compound in the solvent is not particularly limited. The reaction temperature is, though not particularly limited, preferably in the range of not deactivating the nitrile hydratase, and more preferably from the freezing point or higher to 50° C. or lower.

Examples as described below will illustrate the invention in more detail, but they are not intended to limit the invention in any way. Also, the HPLC analysis in each Example and Comparative Example was carried out using Finepak SIL C18-5 (250×4.6 φ mm; product by JASCO) as the column and a 10 mM aqueous solution of phosphoric acid containing 4 vol % of acetonitrile as the eluent. In addition, acrylamide, acrylonitrile, acrylic acid, methacrylamide, methacrylonitrile and methacrylic acid were detected by absorbance at 210 nm.

EXAMPLES Reference Example 1

Construction (1) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Met for the 6^(th) Leu in the α-subunit, introduction of site-specific mutation was performed using a “LA PCR in vitro mutagenesis Kit” (manufactured by Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.). Hereinafter, the “LA PCR in vitro mutagenesis Kit” is simply referred to as the kit. In following Reference Examples, the kit was handled on the basis of the principle thereof and in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions for the kit.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of MT-10822 were inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. The plasmid pPT-DB1 was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 7 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out. This assay revealed the production of the amplified DNA products in the both PCR reactions. From each of these PCR reaction mixtures, the excess primers and dNTP were removed using Microcon 100 (manufactured by Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.), and then TE was added to each of the mixtures to prepare 50 μl each of TE solutions. An annealing solution of 47.5 μl in total containing 0.5 μl of both of the above TE solutions (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was prepared, and this solution was subjected to annealing by performing thermal denaturation of the solution at 98° C. for 10 minutes, subsequently cooling the solution to 37° C. at a constant cooling rate over a period of 60 minutes, and then maintaining it at 37° C. for 15 minutes. To thus annealed solution, 0.5 μl of TaKaRa LA Taq was added, and the solution was heated at 72° C. for 3 minutes, thus completing the formation of heterologous double-stranded DNA. This was then subjected to PCR reaction No. 3. For the PCR reaction No. 3, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. After completion of the PCR reaction No. 3, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, a product by Sigma Corporation; agarose concentration of 0.8% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product of about 2 kbp. Subsequently, an agarose fragment comprising only a DNA fragment of about 2 kbp was cut out of the agarose gel. The thus-cut agarose fragment (about 0.1 g) was finely pulverized, suspended in 1 ml of a TE solution, and kept at 55° C. for 1 hour, whereby the agarose fragment was completely melted. The resulting agarose melt was then subjected to phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNA fragment. Thus purified DNA fragment was finally dissolved in 10 μl of TE. The amplified DNA fragment of about 2 kbp thus purified was cleaved by means of restriction endonucleases EcoRI and HindIII, and then subjected to phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNA fragment. Thus purified DNA fragment was finally dissolved in 10 μl of TE. Likewise, pPT-DB1 was cleaved by means of EcoRI and HindIII, and then subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, a product by Sigma Corporation; agarose concentration of 0.7%). An agarose fragment comprising only the DNA fragment of about 2.7 kbp was cut out of the agarose gel. The thus-cut agarose fragment (about 0.1 g) was finely pulverized, suspended in 1 ml of the TE solution, and kept at 55° C. for 1 hour, whereby the agarose fragment was completely melted. The resulting agarose melt was subjected to phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNA fragment. Thus purified DNA fragment was finally dissolved in 10 μl of TE. Thus obtained DNA fragments of about 2 kbp and of about 2.7 kbp were subjected to DNA ligation, using a DNA ligation kit (manufactured by Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.). Then, a competent cell of E. coli HB101 (manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.) was transformed with the reaction product to obtain a transformant No. 1.

The conversion and the selectivity were determined in the following manner in the production of the amide compound using the obtained transformant.

In a 500 ml Erlenmeyer flask with baffles, 100 ml of a liquid LB medium comprising 40 μg/ml of ferric sulfate/heptahydrate and 10 μg/ml of cobalt chloride/dihydrate was prepared and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the transformant No. 1 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 130 rpm. The cells were separated from the resulting culture by centrifugation (5,000 G×15 minutes), and then resuspending the cells in 50 ml of physiological saline, followed by another centrifugation (5,000 G×15 minutes). 0.1 g of the cells was suspended in 20 ml of an aqueous solution (pH 7.0) of 50 mM potassium phosphate. To this, 1 ml of acrylonitrile or methacrylonitrile was added, and this mixture was gently stirred at 10° C. for 1 hour to react. After completion of the reaction, an analysis of the reaction solution was carried out with HPLC, and it was found that the reaction solution contained only an amide compound (acrylamide or methacrylamide) of a molar amount corresponding to the amount of the added nitrile compound (acrylonitrile or methacrylonitrile), and that the nitrile compound (acrylonitrile or methacrylonitrile) and the corresponding organic acid (acrylic acid or methacrylic acid) were absent. That is, the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 1, in which it is known that the 6^(th) Leu in the α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Met.

TABLE 1 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Clone Site Sequence Base Sequence Num- (in α- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 1 6^(th) Leu Met CTG ATG position in α- subunit

Reference Example 2

Construction (2) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Thr for the 6^(th) Leu in the α-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 11 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 2 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1 comprising the PCR reaction No. 2.

The addition rate and the selectivity was determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1 were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 2, in which it is known that the 6^(th) Leu in the α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Thr.

TABLE 2 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Clone Site Sequence Base Sequence Num- (in α- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 2 6^(th) Leu Thr CTG ACG position in α- subunit

Reference Example 3

Construction (3) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Ala for the 6^(th) Leu in the α-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 12 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 3 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 3, in which it is known that the 6^(th) Leu in the α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Ala.

TABLE 3 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Clone Site Sequence Base Sequence Num- (in α- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 3 6^(th) Leu Ala CTG GCG position in α- subunit

Reference Example 4

Construction (4) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Val for the 6^(th) Leu in the α-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 13 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 4 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 4, in which it is known that the 6^(th) Leu in the α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Val.

TABLE 4 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Clone Site Sequence Base Sequence Num- (in α- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 4 6^(th) Leu Val CTG GTG position in α- subunit

Reference Example 5

Construction (5) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Val for the 19^(th) Ala in the α-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 14 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 5 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 5, in which it is known that the 19^(th) Ala in the α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Val.

TABLE 5 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Clone Site Sequence Base Sequence Num- (in α- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 5 19^(th) Ala Val GCG GTG position in α- subunit

Reference Example 6

Construction (6) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Leu for the 38^(th) Met in the α-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 15 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 6 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 6, in which it is known that the 38^(th) Met in the α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Leu.

TABLE 6 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Clone Site Sequence Base Sequence Num- (in α- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 6 38^(th) Met Leu ATG TTG position in α- subunit

Reference Example 7

Construction (7) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Ser for the 77^(th) Thr in the α-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 16 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 7 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 7, in which it is known that the 77^(th) Thr in the α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Ser.

TABLE 7 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in α- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 7 77^(th) Thr Ser ACC TCC position in α- subunit

Reference Example 8

Construction (8) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Ala for the 90^(th) Gly in the α-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 17 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 8 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 8, in which it is known that the 90^(th) Gly in the α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Ala.

TABLE 8 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in α- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 8 90^(th) Gly Ala GGC GCC position in α- subunit

Reference Example 9

Construction (9) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Ala for the 102^(nd) Val in the α-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 18 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 9 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 9, in which it is known that the 102^(nd) Val in the α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Ala.

TABLE 9 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in α- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 9 102^(nd) Val Ala GTC GCC position in α- subunit

Reference Example 10

Construction (10) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Ile for the 106^(th) Val in the α-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 19 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 10 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 10, in which it is known that the 106^(th) Val in the α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Ile.

TABLE 10 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in α- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 106^(th) Val Ile GTC ATC 10 position in α- subunit

Reference Example 11

Construction (11) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Tyr for the 126^(th) Phe in the α-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 20 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 11 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 11, in which it is known that the 126^(th) Phe in the α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Tyr.

TABLE 11 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in α- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 126^(th) Phe Tyr TTC TAC 11 position in α- subunit

Reference Example 12

Construction (12) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Glu for the 130^(th) Gln in the α-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 21 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 12 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 12, in which it is known that the 130^(th) Gln in the α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Glu.

TABLE 12 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in α- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 130^(th) Gln Glu CAG GAG 12 position in α- subunit

Reference Example 13

Construction (13) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Val for the 142^(nd) Leu in the α-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 22 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 13 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 13, in which it is known that the 142^(nd) Leu in the α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Val.

TABLE 13 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in α- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 142^(nd) Leu Val CTG GTG 13 position in α- subunit

Reference Example 14

Construction (14) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Asp for the 146^(th) Glu in the α-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 23 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 14 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 14, in which it is known that the 146^(th) Glu in the α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Asp.

TABLE 14 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in α- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 146^(th) Glu Asp GAG GAC 14 position in α- subunit

Reference Example 15

Construction (15) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Thr for the 187^(th) Ala in the α-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 24 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 15 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 15, in which it is known that the 187^(th) Ala in the α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Thr.

TABLE 15 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in α- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 187^(th) Ala Thr GCC ACC 15 position in α- subunit

Reference Example 16

Construction (16) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Leu for the 194^(th) Ser in the α-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 25 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 16 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 16, in which it is known that the 194^(th) Ser in the α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Leu.

TABLE 16 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in α- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 194^(th) Ser Leu TCG TTG 16 position in α- subunit

Reference Example 17

Construction (17) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Glu for the 203^(rd) Ala in the α-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 26 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 17 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 17, in which it is known that the 203^(rd) Ala in the α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Glu.

TABLE 17 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in α- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 203^(rd) Ala Glu GCG GAG 17 position in α- subunit

Reference Example 18

Construction (18) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Val for the 20^(th) Ala in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 27 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 18 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 18, in which it is known that the 20^(th) Ala in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Val.

TABLE 18 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 20^(th) Ala Val GCG GTG 18 position in β- subunit

Reference Example 19

Construction (19) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Asn for the 21^(st) Asp in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 28 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 19 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 19, in which it is known that the 21^(st) Asp in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Asn.

TABLE 19 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 21^(st) Asp Asn GAC AAC 19 position in β- subunit

Reference Example 20

Construction (20) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Asp for the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 29 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 20 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 20, in which it is known that the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Asp.

TABLE 20 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 108^(th) Glu Asp GAG GAT 20 position in β- subunit

Reference Example 21

Construction (21) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Pro for the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 30 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 21 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 21, in which it is known that the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Pro.

TABLE 21 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 108^(th) Glu Pro GAG CCG 21 position in β- subunit

Reference Example 22

Construction (22) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Ser for the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 31 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 22 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 22, in which it is known that the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Ser.

TABLE 22 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Clone Site Sequence Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 108^(th) Glu Ser GAG TCG 22 position in β- subunit

Reference Example 23

Construction (23) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Arg for the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 32 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 23 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 23, in which it is known that the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Arg.

TABLE 23 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Clone Site Sequence Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 108^(th) Glu Arg GAG CGG 23 position in β- subunit

Reference Example 24

Construction (24) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Cys for the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 33 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 24 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 24, in which it is known that the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Cys.

TABLE 24 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Clone Site Sequence Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 108^(th) Glu Cys GAG TGC 24 position in β- subunit

Reference Example 25

Construction (25) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Leu for the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 34 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 25 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 25, in which it is known that the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Leu.

TABLE 25 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Clone Site Sequence Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 108^(th) Glu Leu GAG CTG 25 position in β- subunit

Reference Example 26

Construction (26) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Thr for the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 35 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 26 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 26, in which it is known that the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Thr.

TABLE 26 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Clone Site Sequence Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 108^(th) Glu Thr GAG ACG 26 position in β- subunit

Reference Example 27

Construction (27) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Asp for the 200^(th) Ala in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 36 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 27 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 27, in which it is known that the 200^(th) Ala in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Asp.

TABLE 27 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Clone Site Sequence Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 200^(th) Ala Asp GCC GAC 27 position in β- subunit

Reference Example 28

Construction (28) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Ile for the 200^(th) Ala in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 37 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 28 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 28, in which it is known that the 200^(th) Ala in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Ile.

TABLE 28 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Clone Site Sequence Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 200^(th) Ala Ile GCC ATC 28 position in β- subunit

Reference Example 29

Construction (29) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Val for the 200^(th) Ala in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 38 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 29 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 29, in which it is known that the 200^(th) Ala in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Val.

TABLE 29 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Clone Site Sequence Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 200^(th) Ala Val GCC GTC 29 position in β- subunit

Reference Example 30

Construction (30) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Glu for the 200^(th) Ala in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 39 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 30 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 30, in which it is known that the 200^(th) Ala in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Glu.

TABLE 30 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Clone Site Sequence Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 200^(th) Ala Glu GCC GAG 30 position in β- subunit

Reference Example 31

Construction (31) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Tyr for the 212^(th) Ser in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Reference Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 40 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 31 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 31, in which it is known that the 212^(th) Ser in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Tyr.

TABLE 31 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 212^(th) Ser Tyr TCC TAC 31 position in β- subunit

Reference Example 32

Construction (32) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 5 (where the 19^(th) Ala in the α-subunit was substituted with Val) and that from the clone No. 11 (where the 126^(th) Phe in the α-subunit was substituted with Tyr) still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 11 as prepared in Reference Example 11 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. The plasmid DNA of the clone No. 11 was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction.

Using 1 μg of the plasmid DNA of the clone No. 11 as the template, PCR of two different types was carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 14 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR-reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 32 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 32, in which it is known that the 19^(th) Ala in the α-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Val and the 126^(th) Phe in the same was substituted with Tyr.

TABLE 32 Change in Amino Change in Base Acid Sequence Sequence Clone Mutated Site Wild Wild Number (in α-subunit) Type Mutant Type Mutant No. 32 19^(th) position Ala Val GCG GTG in α-subunit 126^(th) position Phe Tyr TTC TAC in α-subunit

Reference Example 33

Construction (33) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 1 (where the 6^(th) Leu in the α-subunit was substituted with Met) and that from the clone No. 32 (where the 19^(th) Ala in the α-subunit was substituted with Val and the 126^(th) Phe in the α-subunit was substituted with Tyr) still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 32 as prepared in Reference Example 32 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. The plasmid DNA of the clone No. 32 was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction.

Using 1 μg of the plasmid DNA of the clone No. 32 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 7 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 33 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 33, in which it is known that the 6^(th) Leu in the α-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Met, the 19^(th) Ala in the same was substituted with Val and the 126^(th) Phe in the same was substituted with Tyr.

TABLE 33 Mutated Change in Amino Change in Base Site Acid Sequence Sequence Clone (in α- Wild Wild Number subunit) Type Mutant Type Mutant No. 33 6^(th) Leu Met CTG ATG position in α-subunit 19^(th) Ala Val GCG GTG position in α-subunit 126^(th) Phe Tyr TTC TAC position in α-subunit

Reference Example 34

Construction (34) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 2 (where the 6^(th) Leu in the α-subunit was substituted with Thr) and that from the clone No. 32 (where the 19^(th) Ala in the α-subunit was substituted with Val and the 126^(th) Phe in the α-subunit was substituted with Tyr) still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

Using 1 μg of the plasmid DNA of the clone No. 32 as prepared in Reference Example 33 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 11 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 34 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 34, in which it is known that the 6^(th) Leu in the α-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Thr, the 19^(th) Ala in the same was substituted with Val and the 126^(th) Phe in the same was substituted with Tyr.

TABLE 34 Change in Amino Change in Base Mutated Site Acid Sequence Sequence Clone (in α- Wild Wild Number subunit) Type Mutant Type Mutant No. 34 6^(th) position Leu Thr CTG ACG in α-subunit 19^(th) position Ala Val GCG GTG in α-subunit 126^(th) Phe Tyr TTC TAC position in α-subunit

Reference Example 35

Construction (35) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 3 (where the 6^(th) Leu in the α-subunit was substituted with Ala) and that from the clone No. 32 (where the 19^(th) Ala in the α-subunit was substituted with Val and the 126^(th) Phe in the α-subunit was substituted with Tyr) still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

Using 1 μg of the plasmid DNA of the clone No. 32 as prepared in Reference Example 33 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 12 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 35 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 35, in which it is known that the 6^(th) Leu in the α-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Ala, the 19^(th) Ala in the same was substituted with Val and the 126^(th) Phe in the same was substituted with Tyr.

TABLE 35 Mutated Change in Amino Change in Base Site Acid Sequence Sequence Clone (in α- Wild Wild Number subunit) Type Mutant Type Mutant No. 35 6^(th) Leu Ala CTG GCG position in α-subunit 19^(th) Ala Val GCG GTG position in α-subunit 126^(th) Phe Tyr TTC TAC position in α-subunit

Reference Example 36

Construction (36) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 20 (where the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit was substituted with Asp) and that from the clone No. 31 (where the 212^(th) Ser in the β-subunit was substituted with Tyr) still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 31 as prepared in Reference Example 31 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. The plasmid DNA of the clone No. 31 was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction.

Using 1 μg of the plasmid DNA of the clone No. 31 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 29 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 36 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 36, in which it is known that the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Asp and the 212^(th) Ser in the same was substituted with Tyr.

TABLE 36 Mutated Change in Amino Change in Base Site Acid Sequence Sequence Clone (in β- Wild Wild Number subunit) Type Mutant Type Mutant No. 36 108^(th) Glu Asp GAG GAT position in β-subunit 212^(th) Ser Tyr TCC TAC position in β-subunit

Reference Example 37

Construction (37) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 23 (where the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit was substituted with Arg) and that from the clone No. 31 (where the 212^(th) Ser in the β-subunit was substituted with Tyr) still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

Using 1 μg of the plasmid DNA of the clone No. 31 as prepared in Reference Example 36 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 32 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 37 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 37, in which it is known that the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Arg and the 212^(th) Ser in the same was substituted with Tyr.

TABLE 37 Mutated Change in Amino Change in Base Site Acid Sequence Sequence Clone (in β- Wild Wild Number subunit) Type Mutant Type Mutant No. 37 108^(th) Glu Arg GAG CGG position in β- subunit 212^(th) Ser Tyr TCC TAC position in β- subunit

Reference Example 38

Construction (38) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 27 (where the 200^(th) Ala in the β-subunit was substituted with Asp) and that from the clone No. 31 (where the 212^(th) Ser in the β-subunit was substituted with Tyr) still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

Using 1 μg of the plasmid DNA of the clone No. 31 as prepared in Reference Example 36 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 36 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 38 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 38, in which it is known that the 200^(th) Ala in the β-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Asp and the 212^(th) Ser in the same was substituted with Tyr.

TABLE 38 Change in Amino Change in Base Mutated Site Acid Sequence Sequence Clone (in β- Wild Wild Number subunit) Type Mutant Type Mutant No. 38 200^(th) position Ala Asp GCC GAC in β-subunit 212^(th) position Ser Tyr TCC TAC in β-subunit

Reference Example 39

Construction (39) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 30 (where the 200^(th) Ala in the β-subunit was substituted with Glu) and that from the clone No. 31 (where the 212^(th) Ser in the β-subunit was substituted with Tyr) still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

Using 1 μg of the plasmid DNA of the clone No. 31 as prepared in Reference Example 36 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 39 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 39 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Reference Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 39, in which it is known that the 200^(th) Ala in the β-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Glu and the 212^(th) Ser in the same was substituted with Tyr.

TABLE 39 Mutated Change in Amino Change in Base Site Acid Sequence Sequence Clone (in β- Wild Wild Number subunit) Type Mutant Type Mutant No. 39 200^(th) Ala Glu GCC GAG position in β-subunit 212^(th) Ser Tyr TCC TAC position in β-subunit

Example 1

Construction (40) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Met for the 36^(th) Thr in the α-subunit, introduction of site-specific mutation was performed using a “LA PCR in vitro mutagenesis Kit” (manufactured by Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.). Hereinafter, the “LA PCR in vitro mutagenesis Kit” is simply referred to as the kit. In following Examples, the kit was handled on the basis of the principle thereof and in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions for the kit.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of MT-10822 were inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. The plasmid pPT-DB1 was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 41 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. From each of these PCR reaction mixtures, the excess primers and dNTP were removed using Microcon 100 (manufactured by Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.), and then TE was added to each of the mixtures to prepare 50 μl each of TE solutions. An annealing solution of 47.5 μl in total containing 0.5 μl of both of the above TE solutions (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was prepared, and this solution was subjected to annealing by performing thermal denaturation of the solution at 98° C. for 10 minutes, subsequently cooling the solution to 37° C. at a constant cooling rate over a period of 60 minutes, and then maintaining it at 37° C. for 15 minutes. To thus annealed solution, 0.5 μl of TaKaRa LA Taq was added, and the solution was heated at 72° C. for 3 minutes, thus completing the formation of heterologous double-stranded DNA. This was then subjected to PCR reaction No. 3. For the PCR reaction No. 3, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. After completion of the PCR reaction 3, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, a product by Sigma Corporation; agarose concentration of 0.8% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product of about 2 kbp. Subsequently, an agarose fragment comprising only a DNA fragment of about 2 kbp was cut out of the agarose gel. The thus-cut agarose fragment (about 0.1 g) was finely pulverized, suspended in 1 ml of a TE solution, and kept at 55° C. for 1 hour, whereby the agarose fragment was completely melted. The resulting agarose melt was then subjected to phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNA fragment. Thus purified DNA fragment was finally dissolved in 10 μl of TE. The amplified DNA fragment of about 2 kbp thus purified was cleaved by means of restriction endonucleases EcoRI and HindIII, and then subjected to phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNA fragment. Thus purified DNA fragment was finally dissolved in 10 μl of TE. Likewise, pPT-DB1 was cleaved by means of EcoRI and HindIII, and then subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, a product by Sigma Corporation; agarose concentration of 0.7%). An agarose fragment comprising only the DNA fragment of about 2.7 kbp was cut out of the agarose gel. The thus-cut agarose fragment (about 0.1 g) was finely pulverized, suspended in 1 ml of the TE solution, and kept at 55° C. for 1 hour, whereby the agarose fragment was completely melted. The resulting agarose melt was subjected to phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNA fragment. Thus purified DNA fragment was finally dissolved in 10 μl of TE. Thus obtained DNA fragments of about 2 kbp and of about 2.7 kbp were subjected to DNA ligation, using a DNA ligation kit (manufactured by Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.). A competent cell of E. coli HB101 (manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.) was transformed with the reaction product to obtain a transformant No. 40.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 40, in which it is known that the 36^(th) Thr in the α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone was substituted with Met.

TABLE 40 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in α- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 36^(th) Thr Met ACG ATG 40 position in α- subunit

Example 2

Construction (41) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with His for the 71^(st) Arg in the α-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 42 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 41 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 41, in which it is known that the 71^(st) Arg in the α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone was substituted with His.

TABLE 41 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in α- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 71^(st) Arg His CGT CAT 41 position in α- subunit

Example 3

Construction (42) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Asp for the 148^(th) Gly in the α-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 43 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 42 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 42, in which it is known that the 148^(th) Gly in the α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone was substituted with Asp.

TABLE 42 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in α- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 148^(th) Gly Asp GGC GAC 42 position in α- subunit

Example 4

Construction (43) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Arg for the 204^(th) Val in the α-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 44 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 43 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 43, in which it is known that the 204^(th) Val in the α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone was substituted with Arg.

TABLE 43 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in α- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 204^(th) Val Arg GTC CGC 43 position in α- subunit

Example 5

Construction (44) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Lys for the 204^(th) Val in the α-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 45 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 44 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 44, in which it is known that the 204^(th) Val in the α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone was substituted with Lys.

TABLE 44 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in α- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 204^(th) Val Lys GTC AAA 44 position in α- subunit

Example 6

Construction (45) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Trp for the 204^(th) Val in the α-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 46 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 45 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 45, in which it is known that the 204^(th) Val in the α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone was substituted with Trp.

TABLE 45 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in α- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 204^(th) Val Trp GTC TGG 45 position in α- subunit

Example 7

Construction (46) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Thr for the 204^(th) Val in the α-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 47 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 46 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 46, in which it is known that the 204^(th) Val in the α-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone was substituted with Thr.

TABLE 46 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in α- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 204^(th) Val Thr GTC ACC 46 position in α- subunit

Example 8

Construction (47) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Asp for the 10^(th) Thr in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 48 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 47 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 47, in which it is known that the 10^(th) Thr in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Asp.

TABLE 47 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 10^(th) Thr Asp ACC GAC 47 position in β- subunit

Example 9

Construction (48) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Glu for the 10^(th) Thr in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 49 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 48 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 48, in which it is known that the 10^(th) Thr in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Glu.

TABLE 48 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 10^(th) Thr Glu ACC GAA 48 position in β- subunit

Example 10

Construction (49) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Trp for the 10^(th) Thr in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 50 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 49 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 49, in which it is known that the 10^(th) Thr in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Trp.

TABLE 49 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 10^(th) Thr Trp ACC TGG 49 position in β- subunit

Example 11

Construction (50) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Gly for the 10^(th) Thr in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 51 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 50 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 50, in which it is known that the 10^(th) Thr in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Gly.

TABLE 50 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 10^(th) Thr Gly ACC GGC 50 position in β- subunit

Example 12

Construction (51) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Tyr for the 10^(th) Thr in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in. Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 52 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 51 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 51, in which it is known that the 10^(th) Thr in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Tyr.

TABLE 51 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 10^(th) Thr Tyr ACC TAC 51 position in β- subunit

Example 13

Construction (52) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Cys for the 10^(th) Thr in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 53 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 52 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells, by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 52, in which it is known that the 10^(th) Thr in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Cys.

TABLE 52 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 10^(th) Thr Cys ACC TGC 52 position in β- subunit

Example 14

Construction (53) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Gly for the 32^(nd) Val in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 54 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 53 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 53, in which it is known that the 32^(nd) Val in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Gly.

TABLE 53 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 32^(nd) Val Gly GTC GGC 53 position in β- subunit

Example 15

Construction (54) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Thr for the 37^(th) Phe in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 55 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 54 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 54, in which it is known that the 37^(th) Phe in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Thr.

TABLE 54 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 37^(th) Phe Thr TTC ACC 54 position in β- subunit

Example 16

Construction (55) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Ala for the 37^(th) Phe in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 56 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 55 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 55, in which it is known that the 37^(th) Phe in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Ala.

TABLE 55 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 37^(th) Phe Ala TTC GCC 55 position in β- subunit

Example 17

Construction (56) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Leu for the 37^(th) Phe in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 57 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 56 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 56, in which it is known that the 37^(th) Phe in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Leu.

TABLE 56 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 37^(th) Phe Leu TTC CTC 56 position in β- subunit

Example 18

Construction (57) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Ile for the 37^(th) Phe in the β-subunit; using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 58 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 57 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 57, in which it is known that the 37^(th) Phe in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Ile.

TABLE 57 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 37^(th) Phe Ile TTC ATC 57 position in β- subunit

Example 19

Construction (58) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Val for the 37^(th) Phe in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 59 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 58 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 58, in which it is known that the 37^(th) Phe in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Val.

TABLE 58 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 37^(th) Phe Val TTC GTC 58 position in β- subunit

Example 20

Construction (59) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Glu for the 41^(st) Phe in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 60 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 59 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 59, in which it is known that the 41^(st) Phe in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Glu.

TABLE 59 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 41^(st) Phe Glu TTC GAA 59 position in β- subunit

Example 21

Construction (60) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Thr for the 41^(st) Phe in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 61 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 60 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 60, in which it is known that the 41^(st) Phe in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Thr.

TABLE 60 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Change in Base Clone Site Sequence Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 41^(st) Phe Thr TTC ACC 60 position in β- subunit

Example 22

Construction (61) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Ala for the 41^(st) Phe in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 62 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 61 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 61, in which it is known that the 41^(st) Phe in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Ala.

TABLE 61 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 41^(st) Phe Ala TTC GCC 61 position in β- subunit

Example 23

Construction (62) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Leu for the 41^(st) Phe in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 63 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 62 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 62, in which it is known that the 41^(st) Phe in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Leu.

TABLE 62 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 41^(st) Phe Leu TTC CTC 62 position in β- subunit

Example 24

Construction (63) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Ile for the 41^(st) Phe, in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 64 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 63 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 63, in which it is known that the 41^(st) Phe in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Ile.

TABLE 63 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 41^(st) Phe Ile TTC ATC 63 position in β- subunit

Example 25

Construction (64) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Val for the 41^(st) Phe in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 65 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 64 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 64, in which it is known that the 41^(st) Phe in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Val.

TABLE 64 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 41^(st) Phe Val TTC GTC 64 position in β- subunit

Example 26

Construction (65) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Gly for the 46^(th) Met in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 66 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 65 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 65, in which it is known that the 46^(th) Met in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Gly.

TABLE 65 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 46^(th) Met Gly ATG GGG 65 position in β- subunit

Example 27

Construction (66) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Tyr for the 46^(th) Met in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 67 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 66 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 66, in which it is known that the 46^(th) Met in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Tyr.

TABLE 66 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 46^(th) Met Tyr ATG TAT 66 position in β- subunit

Example 28

Construction (67) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Leu for the 46^(th) Met in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 68 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 67 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 67, in which it is known that the 46^(th) Met in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Leu.

TABLE 67 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 46^(th) Met Leu ATG CTG 67 position in β- subunit

Example 29

Construction (68) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Lys for the 46^(th) Met in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 69 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 68 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 68, in which it is known that the 46^(th) Met in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Lys.

TABLE 68 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 46^(th) Met Lys ATG AAG 68 position in β- subunit

Example 30

Construction (69) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Asp for the 46^(th) Met in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 70 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 69 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 69, in which it is known that the 46^(th) Met in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Asp.

TABLE 69 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 46^(th) Met Asp ATG GAT 69 position in β- subunit

Example 31

Construction (70) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Gly for the 48^(th) Leu in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 71 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 70 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 70, in which it is known that the 48^(th) Leu in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Gly.

TABLE 70 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 48^(th) Leu Gly CTG GGG 70 position in β- subunit

Example 32

Construction (71) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Ala for the 48^(th) Leu in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 72 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 71 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 71, in which it is known that the 48^(th) Leu in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Ala.

TABLE 71 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 48^(th) Leu Ala CTG GCG 71 position in β- subunit

Example 33

Construction (72) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Val for the 48^(th) Leu in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 73 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 72 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 72, in which it is known that the 48^(th) Leu in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Val.

TABLE 72 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 48^(th) Leu Val CTG GTG 72 position in β- subunit

Example 34

Construction (73) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Ser for the 48^(th) Leu in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 74 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 73 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 73, in which it is known that the 48^(th) Leu in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Ser.

TABLE 73 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 48^(th) Leu Ser CTG TCG 73 position in β- subunit

Example 35

Construction (74) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Thr for the 48^(th) Leu in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 75 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 74 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 74, in which it is known that the 48^(th) Leu in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Thr.

TABLE 74 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 48^(th) Leu Thr CTG ACG 74 position in β- subunit

Example 36

Construction (75) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Arg for the 48^(th) Leu in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 76 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 75 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 75, in which it is known that the 48^(th) Leu in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Arg.

TABLE 75 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 48^(th) Leu Arg CTG CGG 75 position in β- subunit

Example 37

Construction (76) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Ala for the 51^(st) Phe in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 77 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 76 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 76; in which it is known that the 51^(st) Phe in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Ala.

TABLE 76 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 51^(st) Phe Ala TTC GCC 76 position in β- subunit

Example 38

Construction (77) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Val for the 51^(st) Phe in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 78 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 77 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 77, in which it is known that the 51^(st) Phe in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Val.

TABLE 77 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 51^(st) Phe Val TTC GTC 77 position in β- subunit

Example 39

Construction (78) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Phe for the 72^(nd) Trp in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 79 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 78 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 78, in which it is known that the 72^(nd) Trp in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Phe.

TABLE 78 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 72^(nd) Trp Phe TGG TTT 78 position in β- subunit

Example 40

Construction (79) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Ala for the 118^(th) Phe in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 80 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 79 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 79, in which it is known that the 118^(th) Phe in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Ala.

TABLE 79 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 118^(th) Phe Ala TTC GCC 79 position in β- subunit

Example 41

Construction (80) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Leu for the 118^(th) Phe in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 81 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 80 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 80, in which it is known that the 118^(th) Phe in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Leu.

TABLE 80 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 118^(th) Phe Leu TTC CTC 80 position in β- subunit

Example 42

Construction (81) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Ile for the 118^(th) Phe in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 82 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 81 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 81, in which it is known that the 118^(th) Phe in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Ile.

TABLE 81 Mutated Change in Amino Change in Clone Site Acid Sequence Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 118^(th) Phe Ile TTC ATC 81 position in β- subunit

Example 43

Construction (82) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Val for the 118^(th) Phe in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 83 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 82 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 82, in which it is known that the 118^(th) Phe in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Val.

TABLE 82 Mutated Change in Amino Change in Clone Site Acid Sequence Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 118^(th) Phe Val TTC GTC 82 position in β- subunit

Example 44

Construction (83) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Ala for the 127^(th) Leu in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 84 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 83 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 83, in which it is known that the 127^(th) Leu in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Ala.

TABLE 83 Mutated Change in Amino Change in Clone Site Acid Sequence Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 127^(th) Leu Ala CTG GCG 83 position in β- subunit

Example 45

Construction (84) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Val for the 127^(th) Leu in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 85 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 84 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 84, in which it is known that the 127^(th) Leu in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Val.

TABLE 84 Mutated Change in Amino Change in Clone Site Acid Sequence Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 127^(th) Leu Val CTG GTG 84 position in β- subunit

Example 46

Construction (85) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Ser for the 127^(th) Leu in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 86 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 85 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 85, in which it is known that the 127^(th) Leu in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Ser.

TABLE 85 Mutated Change in Amino Change in Clone Site Acid Sequence Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 127^(th) Leu Ser CTG TCG 85 position in β- subunit

Example 47

Construction (86) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Gly for the 146^(th) Arg in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 87 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 86 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 86, in which it is known that the 146^(th) Arg in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Gly.

TABLE 86 Mutated Change in Amino Change in Clone Site Acid Sequence Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 146^(th) Arg Gly CGG GGG 86 position in β- subunit

Example 48

Construction (87) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Leu for the 160^(th) Arg in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 88 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 87 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 87, in which it is known that the 160^(th) Arg in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Leu.

TABLE 87 Mutated Change in Amino Change in Clone Site Acid Sequence Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 160^(th) Arg Leu CGG CTG 87 position in β- subunit

Example 49

Construction (88) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Trp for the 160^(th) Arg in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 89 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer. RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 88 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 88, in which it is known that the 160^(th) Arg in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Trp.

TABLE 88 Mutated Change in Amino Change in Clone Site Acid Sequence Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 160^(th) Arg Trp CGG TGG 88 position in β- subunit

Example 50

Construction (89) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Glu for the 186^(th) Leu in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 90 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 89 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 89, in which it is known that the 186^(th) Leu in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Glu.

TABLE 89 Mutated Change in Amino Change in Clone Site Acid Sequence Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 186^(th) Leu Glu CTG GAG 89 position in β- subunit

Example 51

Construction (90) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Asp for the 186^(th) Leu in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 91 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one. PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 90 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 90, in which it is known that the 186^(th) Leu in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Asp.

TABLE 90 Mutated Change in Amino Change in Clone Site Acid Sequence Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 186^(th) Leu Asp CTG GAT 90 position in β- subunit

Example 52

Construction (91) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Lys for the 186^(th) Leu in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 92 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 91 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 91, in which it is known that the 186^(th) Leu in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Lys.

TABLE 91 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 186^(th) Leu Lys CTG AAG 91 position in β- subunit

Example 53

Construction (92) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Arg for the 186^(th) Leu in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 93 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 92 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 92, in which it is known that the 186^(th) Leu in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Arg.

TABLE 92 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 186^(th) Leu Arg CTG CGG 92 position in β- subunit

Example 54

Construction (93) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Asn for the 186^(th) Leu in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 94 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 93 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 93, in which it is known that the 186^(th) Leu in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Asn.

TABLE 93 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 186^(th) Leu Asn CTG AAC 93 position in β- subunit

Example 55

Construction (94) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Ser for the 186^(th) Leu in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 95 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 94 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 94, in which it is known that the 186^(th) Leu in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Ser.

TABLE 94 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 186^(th) Leu Ser CTG TCG 94 position in β- subunit

Example 56

Construction (95) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Gly for the 186^(th) Leu in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 96 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 95 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 95, in which it is known that the 186^(th) Leu in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Gly.

TABLE 95 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 186^(th) Leu Gly CTG GGG 95 position in β- subunit

Example 57

Construction (96) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

For the substitution with Gly for the 217^(th) Asp in the β-subunit, using the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as the template, the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 was subjected to introduction of site-specific mutation in the same manner as in Example 1.

Using 10 ng of the plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 as prepared in Example 1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 97 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 96 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 96, in which it is known that the 217^(th) Asp in the β-subunit of the nitrile hydratase from the clone shown therein was substituted with Gly.

TABLE 96 Mutated Change in Amino Acid Clone Site Sequence Change in Base Sequence Num- (in β- Before After Before After ber subunit) Substitution Substitution Substitution Substitution No. 217^(th) Asp Gly GAC GGC 96 position in β- subunit

Example 58

Construction (97) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 40 (where the 36^(th) Thr in the α-subunit was substituted with Met) and that from the clone No. 11 (where the 126^(th) Phe in the α-subunit was substituted with Tyr) still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 11 as prepared in Reference Example 11 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. The plasmid DNA was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction.

Using 10 ng of the prepared plasmid DNA as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 41 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 97 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 97, in which it is known that the 36^(th) Thr in the α-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Met and the 126^(th) Phe in the same was substituted with Tyr.

TABLE 97 Mutated Site Change in Amino Change in Base Clone (in α- Acid Sequence Sequence Number subunit) Wild Type Mutant Wild Type Mutant No.  36^(th) Thr Met ACG ATG 97 position in α-subunit 126^(th) Phe Tyr TTC TAC position in α-subunit

Example 59

Construction (98) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 42 (where the 148^(th) Gly in the α-subunit was substituted with Asp) and that from the clone No. 43 (where the 204^(th) Val in the α-subunit was substituted with Arg) still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 43 as prepared in Example 4 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. The plasmid DNA was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction.

Using 10 ng of the prepared plasmid DNA as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising so pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 43 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 98 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 98, in which it is known that the 148^(th) Gly in the α-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Asp and the 204^(th) Val in the same was substituted with Arg.

TABLE 98 Mutated Site Change in Amino Change in Base Clone (in α- Acid Sequence Sequence Number subunit) Wild Type Mutant Wild Type Mutant No. 98 148^(th) Gly Asp GGC GAC position in α-subunit 204^(th) Val Arg GTC CGC position in α-subunit

Example 60

Construction (99) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 77 (where the 51^(st) Phe in the β-subunit was substituted with Val) and that from the clone No. 20 (where the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit was substituted with Asp) still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 20 as prepared in Reference Example 20 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. The plasmid DNA was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction.

Using 10 ng of the prepared plasmid DNA as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 78 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 99 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 99, in which it is known that the 51^(st) Phe in the β-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Val and the 108^(th) Glu in the same was substituted with Asp.

TABLE 99 Mutated Site Change in Amino Change in Base Clone (in β- Acid Sequence Sequence Number subunit) Wild Type Mutant Wild Type Mutant No. 99  51^(st) position Phe Val TTC GTC in β-subunit 108^(th) Glu Asp GAG GAT position in β-subunit

Reference Example 40

Construction (100) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 20 (where the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit was substituted with Asp) and that from the clone No. 30 (where the 200^(th) Ala in the β-subunit was substituted with Glu) still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 30 as prepared in Reference Example 30 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. The plasmid DNA was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction.

Using 10 ng of the prepared plasmid DNA as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 29 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 100 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 100, in which it is known that the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Asp and the 200^(th) Ala in the same was substituted with Glu.

TABLE 100 Mutated Site Change in Amino Change in Base Clone (in β- Acid Sequence Sequence Number subunit) Wild Type Mutant Wild Type Mutant No. 108^(th) Glu Asp GAG GAT 100 position in β- subunit 200^(th) Ala Glu GCC GAC position in β- subunit

Example 61

Construction (101) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 82 (where the 118^(th) Phe in the β-subunit was substituted with Val) and that from the clone No. 30 (where the 200^(th) Ala in the β-subunit was substituted with Glu) still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 30 as prepared in Reference Example 30 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. The plasmid DNA was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction.

Using 10 ng of the prepared plasmid DNA as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 83 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 101 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 101, in which it is known that the 118^(th) Phe in the β-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Val and the 200^(th) Ala in the same was substituted with Glu.

TABLE 101 Change in Amino Change in Base Acid Sequence Sequence Clone Mutated Site Wild Wild Number (in β-subunit) Type Mutant Type Mutant No. 118^(th) position Phe Val TTC GTC 101 in β-subunit 200^(th) position Ala Glu GCC GAC in β-subunit

Example 62

Construction (102) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 88 (where the 160^(th) Arg in the β-subunit was substituted with Trp) and that from the clone No. 92 (where the 186^(th) Leu in the β-subunit was substituted with Arg) still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 92 as prepared in Example 53 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. The plasmid DNA was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction.

Using 10 ng of the prepared plasmid DNA as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 89 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 102 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 102, in which it is known that the 160^(th) Arg in the β-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Trp and the 186^(th) Leu in the same was substituted with Arg.

TABLE 102 Change in Amino Change in Base Mutated Site Acid Sequence Sequence Clone (in β- Wild Wild Number subunit) Type Mutant Type Mutant No. 160^(th) position Arg Trp CGG TGG 102 in β-subunit 186^(th) position Leu Arg CTG CGG in β-subunit

Example 63

Construction (103) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 2 (where the 6^(th) Leu in the α-subunit was substituted with Thr) and that from the clone No. 97 (where the 36^(th) Thr in the α-subunit was substituted with Met and the 126^(th) Phe in the α-subunit was substituted with Tyr) still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 97 as prepared in Example 58 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. The plasmid DNA was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction.

Using 10 ng of the prepared plasmid DNA as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 11 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 103 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 103, in which it is known that the 6^(th) Leu in the α-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Thr, the 36^(th) Thr in the same was substituted with Met and the 126^(th) Phe in the same was substituted with Tyr.

TABLE 103 Change in Amino Change in Base Mutated Site Acid Sequence Sequence Clone (in α- Wild Wild Number subunit) Type Mutant Type Mutant No.  6^(th) position Leu Thr CTG ACG 103 in α-subunit  36^(th) position Thr Met ACG ATG in α-subunit 126^(th) position Phe Tyr TTC TAC in α-subunit

Example 64

Construction (104) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 41 (where the 71^(st) Arg in the α-subunit was substituted with His) and that from the clone No. 32 (where the 19^(th) Ala in the α-subunit was substituted with Val and the 126^(th) Phe in the α-subunit was substituted with Tyr) still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 32 as prepared in Reference Example 32 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. The plasmid DNA was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction.

Using 10 ng of the prepared plasmid DNA as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 42 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 104 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 104, in which it is known that the 19^(th) Ala in the α-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Val, the 71^(st) Arg in the same was substituted with His and the 126^(th) Phe in the same was substituted with Tyr.

TABLE 104 Change in Amino Change in Base Acid Sequence Sequence Clone Mutated Site Wild Wild Number (in α-subunit) Type Mutant Type Mutant No.  19^(th) position Ala Val GCG GTG 104 in α-subunit  71^(st) position Arg His CGT CAT in α-subunit 126^(th) position Phe Tyr TTC TAC in α-subunit

Example 65

Construction (105) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 40 (where the 36^(th) Thr in the α-subunit was substituted with Met) and that from the clone No. 98 (where the 148^(th) Gly in the α-subunit was substituted with Asp and the 204^(th) Val in the α-subunit was substituted with Arg) still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 98 as prepared in Example 59 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. The plasmid DNA was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction.

Using 10 ng of the prepared plasmid DNA as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 41 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 105 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 105, in which it is known that the 36^(th) Thr in the α-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Met, the 148^(th) Gly in the same was substituted with Asp and the 204^(th) Val in the same was substituted with Arg.

TABLE 105 Mutated Site Change in Amino Change in Base Clone (in α- Acid Sequence Sequence Number subunit) Wild Type Mutant Wild Type Mutant No.  36^(th) position Thr Met ACG ATG 105 in α-subunit 148^(th) Gly Asp GGC GAC position in α-subunit 204^(th) Val Arg GTC CGC position in α-subunit

Example 66

Construction (106) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 47 (where the 10^(th) Thr in the β-subunit was substituted with Asp) and that from the clone No. 101 (where the 118^(th) Phe in the β-subunit was substituted with Val and the 200^(th) Ala in the β-subunit was substituted with Glu) still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 101 as prepared in Example 61 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. The plasmid DNA was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction.

Using 10 ng of the prepared plasmid DNA as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 48 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 106 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 106, in which it is known that the 10^(th) Thr in the β-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Asp, the 118^(th) Phe in the same was substituted with Val and the 200^(th) Ala in the same was substituted with Glu.

TABLE 106 Change in Amino Change in Base Acid Sequence Sequence Clone Mutated Site Wild Wild Number (in β-subunit) Type Mutant Type Mutant No.  10^(th) position Thr Asp ACC GAC 106 in β-subunit 118^(th) position Phe Val TTC GTC in β-subunit 200^(th) position Ala Glu GCC GAC in β-subunit

Example 67

Construction (107) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 56 (where the 37^(th) Phe in the β-subunit was substituted with Leu) and that from the clone No. 100 (where the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit was substituted with Asp and the 200^(th) Ala in the β-subunit was substituted with Glu) still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 100 as prepared in Reference Example 40 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. The plasmid DNA was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction.

Using 10 ng of the prepared plasmid DNA as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 57 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 107 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 107, in which it is known that the 37^(th) Phe in the β-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Leu, the 108^(th) Glu in the same was substituted with Asp and the 200^(th) Ala in the same was substituted with Glu.

TABLE 107 Change in Amino Change in Base Acid Sequence Sequence Clone Mutated Site Wild Wild Number (in β-subunit) Type Mutant Type Mutant No.  37^(th) position Phe Leu TTC CTC 107 in β-subunit 108^(th) position Glu Asp GAG GAT in β-subunit 200^(th) position Ala Glu GCC GAC in β-subunit

Example 68

Construction (108) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 58 (where the 37^(th) Phe in the β-subunit was substituted with Val) and that from the clone No. 100 (where the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit was substituted with Asp and the 200^(th) Ala in the β-subunit was substituted with Glu) still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 100 as prepared in Reference Example 40 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. The plasmid DNA was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction.

Using 10 ng of the prepared plasmid DNA as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 59 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 108 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 108, in which it is known that the 37^(th) Phe in the β-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Val, the 108^(th) Glu in the same was substituted with Asp and the 200^(th) Ala in the same was substituted with Glu.

TABLE 108 Change in Amino Change in Base Mutated Site Acid Sequence Sequence Clone (in β- Wild Wild Number subunit) Type Mutant Type Mutant No.  37^(th) position Phe Val TTC GTC 108 in β-subunit 108^(th) position Glu Asp GAG GAT in β-subunit 200^(th) position Ala Glu GCC GAC in β-subunit

Example 69

Construction (109) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 63 (where the 41^(st) Phe in the β-subunit was substituted with Ile) and that from the clone No. 99 (where the 51^(st) Phe in the β-subunit was substituted with Val and the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit was substituted with Asp) still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 99 as prepared in Example 60 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. The plasmid DNA was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction.

Using 10 ng of the prepared plasmid DNA as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 64 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 109 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 109, in which it is known that the 41^(st) Phe in the β-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Ile, the 51^(st) Phe in the same was substituted with Val and the 108^(th) Glu in the same was substituted with Asp.

TABLE 109 Change in Mutated Amino Change in Base Site Acid Sequence Sequence Clone (in β- Wild Wild Number subunit) Type Mutant Type Mutant No.  41^(st) Phe Ile TTC ATC 109 position in β-subunit  51^(st) Phe Val TTC GTC position in β-subunit 108^(th) Glu Asp GAG GAT position in β-subunit

Example 70

Construction (110) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 68 (where the 46^(th) Met in the β-subunit was substituted with Lys) and that from the clone No. 37 (where the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit was substituted with Arg and the 212^(th) Ser in the β-subunit was substituted with Tyr) still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 37 as prepared in Reference Example 37 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. The plasmid DNA was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction.

Using 10 ng of the prepared plasmid DNA as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 69 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 110 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 110, in which it is known that the 46^(th) Met in the β-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Lys, the 108^(th) Glu in the same was substituted with Arg and the 212^(th) Ser in the same was substituted with Tyr.

TABLE 110 Mutated Site Change in Amino Change in Base Clone (in β- Acid Sequence Sequence Number subunit) Wild Type Mutant Wild Type Mutant No.  46^(th) position Met Lys ATG AAG 110 in β-subunit 108^(th) Glu Arg GAG CGG position in β-subunit 212^(th) Ser Tyr TCC TAC position in β-subunit

Example 71

Construction (111) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 72 (where the 48^(th) Leu in the β-subunit was substituted with Val) and that from the clone No. 37 (where the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit was substituted with Arg and the 212^(th) Ser in the β-subunit was substituted with Tyr) still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 37 as prepared in Reference Example 37 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. The plasmid DNA was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction.

Using 10 ng of the prepared plasmid DNA as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 73 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 111 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 111, in which it is known that the 48^(th) Leu in the β-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Val, the 108^(th) Glu in the same was substituted with Arg and the 212^(th) Ser in the same was substituted with Tyr.

TABLE 111 Change in Amino Change in Base Acid Sequence Sequence Clone Mutated Site Wild Wild Number (in β-subunit) Type Mutant Type Mutant No.  48^(th) position in Leu Val CTG GTG 111 β-subunit 108^(th) position Glu Arg GAG CGG in β-subunit 212^(th) position Ser Tyr TCC TAC in β-subunit

Example 72

Construction (112) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 85 (where the 127^(th) Leu in the β-subunit was substituted with Ser) and that from the clone No. 102 (where the 160^(th) Arg in the β-subunit was substituted with Trp and the 186^(th) Leu in the β-subunit was substituted with Arg) still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 102 as prepared in Example 62 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. The plasmid DNA was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction.

Using 10 ng of the prepared plasmid DNA as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 86 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmols of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 8 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 120 seconds. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmols of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmols of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID No: 10 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1. After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product. A transformant No. 112 was then obtained in completely the same manner as in Example 1.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 112, in which it is known that the 127^(th) Leu in the β-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Ser, the 160^(th) Arg in the same was substituted with Trp and the 186^(th) Leu in the same was substituted with Arg.

TABLE 112 Change in Amino Change in Base Acid Sequence Sequence Clone Mutated Site Wild Wild Number (in β-subunit) Type Mutant Type Mutant No. 127^(th) position Leu Ser CTG TCG 112 in β-subunit 160^(th) position Arg Trp CGG TGG in β-subunit 186^(th) position Leu Arg CTG CGG in β-subunit

Example 73

Construction (113) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 34 and that from the clone No. 110 still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 34 as prepared in Reference Example 34 and the clone No. 110 as prepared in Example 70 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. From the cells extracted the plasmid DNA of the clone No. 34 and the plasmid DNA of the clone No. 110 through alkaline SDS extraction.

The plasmid DNA from the clone No. 110 was cleaved by means of restriction endonucleases EcoRI and NotI at the cleaving sites thereof, and then subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, manufactured by Sigma Corporation; agarose concentration of 1.0%), through which the DNA fragment of about 770 bp was cut out of the agarose gel. In the same manner, the plasmid DNA from the clone No. 34 was cleaved by means of restriction endonucleases EcoRI and NotI at the cleaving sites thereof, and then subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, manufactured by Sigma Corporation; at an agarose concentration of 0.7%), through which the DNA fragment of about 3.8 kbp was cut out of the agarose gel. Both the thus-cut agarose fragments (about 0.1 g each) were finely pulverized, then separately suspended in 1 ml of a TE solution, and kept at 55° C. for 1 hour, whereby the agarose fragments were completely melted. The resulting agarose melts were separately subjected to phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation, to purify the DNA fragment. Finally, these were separately dissolved in 10 μl of TE.

The DNA fragment of about 770 bp obtained from the clone No. 110 and the DNA fragment of about 3.8 kbp obtained from the clone No. 34 were subjected to DNA ligation, using a DNA ligation kit (manufactured by Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.), to construct a plasmid. This plasmid DNA was introduced into competent cells of E. coli HB101 (manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.). Thus was obtained a transformant No. 113.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 113, in which it is known that the 6^(th) Leu in the α-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Thr, the 19^(th) Ala in the same was substituted with Val, the 126^(th) Phe in the same was substituted with Tyr, while the 46^(th) Met in the β-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Lys, the 108^(th) Glu in the same was substituted with Arg, and the 212^(th) Ser in the same was substituted with Tyr.

TABLE 113 Change in Amino Change in Base Acid Sequence Sequence Clone Wild Wild Number Mutated Site Type Mutant Type Mutant No.  6^(th) position in Leu Thr CTG ACG 113 α-subunit  19^(th) position in Ala Val GCG GTG α-subunit 126^(th) position in Phe Tyr TTC TAC α-subunit  46^(th) position in Met Lys ATG AAG β-subunit 108^(th) position in Glu Arg GAG CGG β-subunit 212^(th) position in Ser Tyr TCC TAC β-subunit

Example 74

Construction (114) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 34 and that from the clone No. 111 still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 34 as prepared in Reference Example 34 and the clone No. 111 as prepared in Example 71 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. From the cells extracted the plasmid DNA of the clone No. 34 and the plasmid DNA of the clone No. 111 through alkaline SDS extraction.

The plasmid DNA from the clone No. 111 was cleaved by means of restriction endonucleases EcoRI and NotI at the cleaving sites thereof, and then subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, manufactured by Sigma Corporation; agarose concentration of 1.0%), through which the DNA fragment of about 770 bp was cut out of the agarose gel. In the same manner, the plasmid DNA from the clone No. 34 was cleaved by means of restriction endonucleases EcoRI and NotI at the cleaving sites thereof, and then subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, manufactured by Sigma Corporation; at an agarose concentration of 0.7%), through which the DNA fragment of about 3.8 kbp was cut out of the agarose gel. Both the thus-cut agarose fragments (about 0.1 g each) were finely pulverized, then separately suspended in 1 ml of a TE solution, and kept at 55° C. for 1 hour, whereby the agarose fragments were completely melted. The resulting agarose melts were separately subjected to phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation, to purify the DNA fragments. Finally, these were separately dissolved in 10 μl of TE.

The DNA fragment of about 770 bp obtained from the clone No. 111 and the DNA fragment of about 3.8 kbp obtained from the clone No. 34 were subjected to DNA ligation, using a DNA ligation kit (manufactured by Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.), to construct a plasmid. This plasmid DNA was introduced into competent cells of E. coli HB101 (manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.). Thus was obtained a transformant No. 114.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 114, in which it is known that the 6^(th) Leu in the α-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Thr, the 19^(th) Ala in the same was substituted with Val, the 126^(th) Phe in the same was substituted with Tyr, while the 48^(th) Leu in the β-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Val, the 108^(th) Glu in the same was substituted with Arg, and the 212^(th) Ser in the same was substituted with Tyr.

TABLE 114 Change in Amino Change in Base Acid Sequence Sequence Clone Wild Wild Number Mutated Site Type Mutant Type Mutant No.  6^(th) position Leu Thr CTG ACG 114 in α-subunit  19^(th) position Ala Val GCG GTG in α-subunit 126^(th) position Phe Tyr TTC TAC in α-subunit  48^(th) position Leu Val CTG GTG in β-subunit 108^(th) position Glu Arg GAG CGG in β-subunit 212^(th) position Ser Tyr TCC TAC in β-subunit

Example 75

Construction (115) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 35 and that from the clone No. 112 still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 35 as prepared in Reference Example 35 and the clone No. 112 as prepared in Example 72 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. From the cells extracted the plasmid DNA of the clone No. 35 and the plasmid DNA of the clone No. 112 through alkaline SDS extraction.

The plasmid DNA from the clone No. 112 was cleaved by means of restriction endonucleases EcoRI and NotI at the cleaving sites thereof, and then subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, manufactured by Sigma Corporation; at an agarose concentration of 1.0%), through which the DNA fragment of about 770 bp was cut out of the agarose gel. In the same manner, the plasmid DNA from the clone No. 35 was cleaved by means of restriction endonucleases EcoRI and NotI at the cleaving sites thereof, and then subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, manufactured by Sigma Corporation; at an agarose concentration of 0.7%), through which the DNA fragment of about 3.8 kbp was cut out of the agarose gel. Both the thus-cut agarose fragments (about 0.1 g each) were finely pulverized, then separately suspended in 1 ml of a TE solution, and kept at 55° C. for 1 hour, whereby the agarose fragments were completely melted. The resulting agarose melts were separately subjected to phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation, to purify the DNA fragments. Finally, these were separately dissolved in 10 μl of TE.

The DNA fragment of about 770 bp obtained from the clone No. 112 and the DNA fragment of about 3.8 kbp obtained from the clone No. 35 were subjected to DNA ligation, using a DNA ligation kit (manufactured by Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.), to construct a plasmid. This plasmid DNA was introduced into competent cells of E. coli HB101 (manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.). Thus was obtained a transformant No. 115.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 115, in which it is known that the 6^(th) Leu in the α-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Ala, the 19^(th) Ala in the same was substituted with Val, the 126^(th) Phe in the same was substituted with Tyr, while the 127^(th) Leu in the β-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Ser, the 160^(th) Arg in the same was substituted with Trp, and the 186^(th) Leu in the same was substituted with Arg.

TABLE 115 Change in Amino Change in Base Acid Sequence Sequence Clone Wild Wild Number Mutated Site Type Mutant Type Mutant No.  6^(th) position Leu Ala CTG GCG 115 in α-subunit  19^(th) position Ala Val GCG GTG in α-subunit 126^(th) position Phe Tyr TTC TAC in α-subunit 127^(th) position Leu Ser CTG TCG in β-subunit 160^(th) position Arg Trp CGG TGG in β-subunit 186^(th) position Leu Arg CTG CGG in β-subunit

Example 76

Construction (116) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 103 and that from the clone No. 106 still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 103 as prepared in Example 63 and the clone No. 106 as prepared in Example 66 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. From the cells extracted the plasmid DNA of the clone No. 103 and the plasmid DNA of the clone No. 106 through alkaline SDS extraction.

The plasmid DNA from the clone No. 106 was cleaved by means of restriction endonucleases EcoRI and NotI at the cleaving sites thereof, and then subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, manufactured by Sigma Corporation; at an agarose concentration of 1.0%), through which the DNA fragment of about 770 bp was cut out of the agarose gel. In the same manner, the plasmid DNA from the clone No. 103 was cleaved by means of restriction endonucleases EcoRI and NotI at the cleaving sites thereof, and then subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, manufactured by Sigma Corporation; at an agarose concentration of 0.7%), through which the DNA fragment of about 3.8 kbp was cut out of the agarose gel. Both the thus-cut agarose fragments (about 0.1 g each) were finely pulverized, then separately suspended in 1 ml of a TE solution, and kept at 55° C. for 1 hour, whereby the agarose fragments were completely melted. The resulting agarose melts were separately subjected to phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation, to purify the DNA fragments. Finally, these were separately dissolved in 10 μl of TE.

The DNA fragment of about 770 bp obtained from the clone No. 106 and the DNA fragment of about 3.8 kbp obtained from the clone No. 103 were subjected to DNA ligation, using a DNA ligation kit (manufactured by Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.), to construct a plasmid. This plasmid DNA was introduced into competent cells of E. coli HB101 (manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.). Thus was obtained a transformant No. 116.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 116, in which it is known that the 6^(th) Leu in the α-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Thr, the 36^(th) Thr in the same was substituted with Met, the 126^(th) Phe in the same was substituted with Tyr, while the 10^(th) Thr in the β-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Asp, the 118^(th) Phe in the same was substituted with Val, and the 200^(th) Ala in the same was substituted with Glu.

TABLE 116 Change in Amino Change in Base Acid Sequence Sequence Clone Wild Wild Number Mutated Site Type Mutant Type Mutant No.  6^(th) position Leu Thr CTG ACG 116 in α-subunit  36^(th) position Thr Met ACG ATG in α-subunit 126^(th) position Phe Tyr TTC TAC in α-subunit 10^(th) position Thr Asp ACC GAC in β-subunit 118^(th) position Phe Val TTC GTC in β-subunit 200^(th) position Ala Glu GCC GAC in β-subunit

Example 77

Construction (117) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 104 and that from the clone No. 107 still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 104 as prepared in Example 64 and the clone No. 107 as prepared in Example 67 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. From the cells extracted the plasmid DNA of the clone No. 104 and the plasmid DNA of the clone No. 107 through alkaline SDS extraction.

The plasmid DNA from the clone No. 107 was cleaved by means of restriction endonucleases EcoRI and NotI at the cleaving sites thereof, and then subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, manufactured by Sigma Corporation; at an agarose concentration of 1.0%), through which the DNA fragment of about 770 bp was cut out of the agarose gel. In the same manner, the plasmid DNA from the clone No. 104 was cleaved by means of restriction endonucleases EcoRI and NotI at the cleaving sites thereof, and then subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, manufactured by Sigma Corporation; at an agarose concentration of 0.7%), through which the DNA fragment of about 3.8 kbp was cut out of the agarose gel. Both the thus-cut agarose fragments (about 0.1 g each) were finely pulverized, then separately suspended in 1 ml of a TE solution, and kept at 55° C. for 1 hour, whereby the agarose fragments were completely melted. The resulting agarose melts were separately subjected to phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation, to purify the DNA fragments. Finally, these were separately dissolved in 10 μl of TE.

The DNA fragment of about 770 bp obtained from the clone No. 107 and the DNA fragment of about 3.8 kbp obtained from the clone No. 104 were subjected to DNA ligation, using a DNA ligation kit (manufactured by Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.), to construct a plasmid. This plasmid DNA was introduced into competent cells of E. coli HB101 (manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.). Thus was obtained a transformant No. 117.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 117, in which it is known that the 19^(th) Ala in the α-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Val, the 71^(st) Arg in the same was substituted with His, the 126^(th) Phe in the same was substituted with Tyr, while the 37^(th) Phe in the β-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Leu, the 108^(th) Glu in the same was substituted with Asp, and the 200^(th) Ala in the same was substituted with Glu.

TABLE 117 Change in Amino Change in Base Acid Sequence Sequence Clone Wild Wild Number Mutated Site Type Mutant Type Mutant No.  19^(th) position Ala Val GCG GTG 117 in α-subunit  71^(st) position Arg His CGT CAT in α-subunit 126^(th) position Phe Tyr TTC TAC in α-subunit  37^(th) position Phe Leu TTC CTC in β-subunit 108^(th) position Glu Asp GAG GAT in β-subunit 200^(th) position Ala Glu GCC GAC in β-subunit

Example 78

Construction (118) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 104 and that from the clone No. 108 still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test, tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 104 as prepared in Example 64 and the clone No. 108 as prepared in Example 68 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. From the cells extracted the plasmid DNA of the clone No. 104 and the plasmid DNA of the clone No. 108 through alkaline SDS extraction.

The plasmid DNA from the clone No. 108 was cleaved by means of restriction endonucleases EcoRI and NotI at the cleaving sites thereof, and then subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, manufactured by Sigma Corporation; at an agarose concentration of 1.0%), through which the DNA fragment of about 770 bp was cut out of the agarose gel. In the same manner, the plasmid DNA from the clone No. 104 was cleaved by means of restriction endonucleases EcoRI and NotI at the cleaving sites thereof, and then subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, manufactured by Sigma Corporation; at an agarose concentration of 0.7%), through which the DNA fragment of about 3.8 kbp was cut out of the agarose gel. Both the thus-cut agarose fragments (about 0.1 g each) were finely pulverized, then separately suspended in 1 ml of a TE solution, and kept at 55° C. for 1 hour, whereby the agarose fragments were completely melted. The resulting agarose melts were separately subjected to phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation, to purify the DNA fragments. Finally, these were separately dissolved in 10 μl of TE.

The DNA fragment of about 770 bp obtained from the clone No. 108 and the DNA fragment of about 3.8 kbp obtained from the clone No. 104 were subjected to DNA ligation, using a DNA ligation kit (manufactured by Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.), to construct a plasmid. This plasmid DNA was introduced into competent cells of E. coli HB101 (manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.). Thus was obtained a transformant No. 118.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 118, in which it is known that the 19^(th) Ala in the α-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Val, the 71^(st) Arg in the same was substituted with His, the 126^(th) Phe in the same was substituted with Tyr, while the 37^(th) Phe in the β-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Val, the 108^(th) Glu in the same was substituted with Asp, and the 200^(th) Ala in the same was substituted with Glu.

TABLE 118 Change in Amino Change in Base Acid Sequence Sequence Clone Wild Wild Number Mutated Site Type Mutant Type Mutant No.  19^(th) position Ala Val GCG GTG 118 in α-subunit  71^(st) position Arg His CGT CAT in α-subunit 126^(th) position Phe Tyr TTC TAC in α-subunit  37^(th) position Phe Val TTC GTC in β-subunit 108^(th) position Glu Asp GAG GAT in β-subunit 200^(th) position Ala Glu GCC GAC in β-subunit

Example 79

Construction (119) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 105 and that from the clone No. 109 still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 105 as prepared in Example 65 and the clone No. 109 as prepared in Example 69 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. From the cells extracted the plasmid DNA of the clone No. 105 and the plasmid DNA of the clone No. 109 through alkaline SDS extraction.

The plasmid DNA from the clone No. 109 was cleaved by means of restriction endonucleases EcoRI and NotI at the cleaving sites thereof, and then subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, manufactured by Sigma Corporation; at an agarose concentration of 1.0%), through which the DNA fragment of about 770 bp was cut out of the agarose gel. In the same manner, the plasmid DNA from the clone No. 105 was cleaved by means of restriction endonucleases EcoRI and NotI at the cleaving sites thereof, and then subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, manufactured by Sigma Corporation; at an agarose concentration of 0.7%), through which the DNA fragment of about 3.8 kbp was cut out of the agarose gel. Both the thus-cut agarose fragments (about 0.1 g each) were finely pulverized, then separately suspended in 1 ml of a TE solution, and kept at 55° C. for 1 hour, whereby the agarose fragments were completely melted. The resulting agarose melts were separately subjected to phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation, to purify the DNA fragments. Finally, these were separately dissolved in 10 μl of TE.

The DNA fragment of about 770 bp obtained from the clone No. 109 and the DNA fragment of about 3.8 kbp obtained from the clone No. 105 were subjected to DNA ligation, using a DNA ligation kit (manufactured by Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.), to construct a plasmid. This plasmid DNA was introduced into competent cells of E. coli HB101 (manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.). Thus was obtained a transformant No. 119.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 119, in which it is known that the 36^(th) Thr in the α-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Met, the 148^(th) Gly in the same was substituted with Asp, the 204^(th) Val in the same was substituted with Arg, while the 41^(st) Phe in the β-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Ile, the 51^(st) Phe in the same was substituted with Val, and the 108^(th) Glu in the same was substituted with Asp.

TABLE 119 Change in Amino Change in Base Acid Sequence Sequence Clone Wild Wild Number Mutated Site Type Mutant Type Mutant No.  36^(th) position Thr Met ACG ATG 119 in α-subunit 148^(th) position Gly Asp GGC GAC in α-subunit 204^(th) position Val Arg GTC CGC in α-subunit  41^(st) position Phe Ile TTC ATC in β-subunit  51^(st) position Phe Val TTC GTC in β-subunit 108^(th) position Glu Asp GAG GAT in β-subunit

Example 80

Construction (120) of the Substituted Amino Acid Having Nitrile Hydratase Activity

This is to demonstrate that the mutant with the substituted amino acid sequence comprising both of the mutated position from the clone No. 98 and that from the clone No. 100 still had the nitrile hydratase activity.

10 ml of a liquid LB medium was put into a 30 ml test tube, and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. Ampicillin was added to this medium to have a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. On the medium, one platinum loop of the cells of the clone No. 98 as prepared in Example 59 and the clone No. 100 as prepared in Reference Example 40 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 300 rpm. 1 ml of the resulting culture was put into a suitable centrifugal tube, and this was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 5 minutes) to separate the cells from the culture. From the cells extracted the plasmid DNA of the clone No. 98 and the plasmid DNA of the clone No. 100 through alkaline SDS extraction.

The plasmid DNA from the clone No. 100 was cleaved by means of restriction endonucleases EcoRI and NotI at the cleaving sites thereof, and then subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, manufactured by Sigma Corporation; at an agarose concentration of 1.0%), through which the DNA fragment of about 770 bp was cut out of the agarose gel. In the same manner, the plasmid DNA from the clone No. 98 was cleaved by means of restriction endonucleases EcoRI and NotI at the cleaving sites thereof, and then subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, manufactured by Sigma Corporation; at an agarose concentration of 0.7%), through which the DNA fragment of about 3.8 kbp was cut out of the agarose gel. Both the thus-cut agarose fragments (about 0.1 g each) were finely pulverized, then separately suspended in 1 ml of a TE solution, and kept at 55° C. for 1 hour, whereby the agarose fragments were completely melted. The resulting agarose melts were separately subjected to phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation, to purify the DNA fragments. Finally, these were separately dissolved in 10 μl of TE.

The DNA fragment of about 770 bp obtained from the clone No. 100 and the DNA fragment of about 3.8 kbp obtained from the clone No. 98 were subjected to DNA ligation, using a DNA ligation kit (manufactured by Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.), to construct a plasmid. This plasmid DNA was introduced into competent cells of E. coli HB101 (manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.). Thus was obtained a transformant No. 120.

Thereafter, the addition rate and the selectivity were determined in the same manner as in Reference Example 1, and the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Moreover, the plasmid was prepared from the cells by alkaline SDS extraction. Next, the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. The results are shown in Table 120, in which it is known that the 148^(th) Gly in the α-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Asp, the 204^(th) Val in the same was substituted with Arg, while the 108^(th) Glu in the β-subunit in the wild nitrile hydratase was substituted with Asp, and the 200^(th) Ala in the same was substituted with Glu.

TABLE 120 Change in Amino Change in Base Acid Sequence Sequence Clone Wild Wild Number Mutated Site Type Mutant Type Mutant No. 148^(th) position Gly Asp GGC GAC 120 in α-subunit 204^(th) position Val Arg GTC CGC in α-subunit 108^(th) position Glu Asp GAG GAT in β-subunit 200^(th) position Ala Glu GCC GAC in β-subunit

Example 81

Preparation of Genomic DNA from Rhodococcus rhodochrous Strain J1

In a 500 ml Erlenmeyer flask with baffles, 100 ml of a medium of the following composition was prepared and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes.

Medium composition;

Glucose: 10.0 g/L, potassium dihydrogen phosphate: 0.5 g/L, dipotassium hydrogen phosphate: 0.5 g/L, magnesium sulfate.heptahydrate: 0.5 g/L, yeast extract: 1.0 g/L, peptone: 7.5 g/L, urea: 7.5 g/L, cobalt chloride.hexahydrate: 10.0 mg/L, pH 7.2

On this medium, one platinum loop of the cells of Rhodococcus rhodochrous strain J1 (deposited with the above-mentioned depository authority under the deposit number of FERM BP-1478 under the Budapest Treaty for the international recognition of the deposit of microorganisms for the purposes of patent procedure and may be distributed to anyone on request) as described in Patent Document 1 was inoculated and incubated therein at 30° C. for 72 hours with stirring at 130 rpm. The cells were separated from the resulting culture by centrifugation (15,000 G×15 minutes). The cells were resuspended in 50 ml of physiological saline, and then subjected to another centrifugation, thereby wet cells being obtained.

To 2 g of the wet cells obtained above, 40 ml of an aqueous solution (pH 8.0) of 50 mM EDTA.2Na containing 0.15 M NaCl was added to prepare a cell suspension, which was boiled at 90° C. for 10 minutes. The resulting suspension was cooled to 37° C., to which was added 100 mg of egg white lysozyme, and was kept at 37° C. for 1 hour. To this, next, 30 mg of zymolylase of 20,000 U/mg was added, followed by keeping at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, 5 mg of proteinase K of 20 U/mg was added to this, followed by keeping at 37° C. for 1 hour. Further, 2 ml of 10% SDS solution was added to this, followed by keeping at 65° C. for 1 hour, and then the mixture was immediately subjected to phenol/chloroform extraction. First, 42 ml of a phenol solution saturated with TE (10 mM Tris-HCl aqueous solution containing 1 mM EDTA.2Na; pH 8.0) was added to the reaction mixture, which was gently stirred. This was subjected to centrifugation (3,000 rpm, 10 minutes) to separate it into an aqueous phase and an organic phase, and only the aqueous phase was collected. To this aqueous phase, 21 ml of the aforementioned TE-saturated phenol solution and 21 ml of chloroform were added, and the mixture was gently stirred again. Then, this was subjected to centrifugation (3,000 rpm, 10 minutes) again to separate an aqueous phase and an organic phase, and only the aqueous phase was further collected. To this aqueous phase, 42 ml of chloroform was added, and the mixture was gently stirred. Then, this was subjected to centrifugation (3,000 rpm, 10 minutes) again to separate an aqueous phase and an organic phase, and only the aqueous phase was collected. To this aqueous phase, 4 ml of a TE solution containing 1.1 M NaCl and 92 ml of ethanol were added, and the mixture was left as such at room temperature for a while. Then, thus precipitated yarn-like DNA was collected by winding it around a glass rod. This was dehydrated through treatment with aqueous solutions of 70%, 80% and 90% ethanol in that order and then dried in the air. Then, thus collected DNA was redissolved in 40 ml of a TE solution. To this, 30 μg of RNase A was added, followed by keeping at 37° C. for 1 hour. Then, this was partially cleaved by means of a restriction endonuclease BamHI. The DNA thus partially cleaved was again purified by phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation, and it was dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/ml.

Example 82

Preparation of Nitrile Hydratase Gene from the Genomic DNA of Rhodococcus rhodochrous Strain J1 Using PCR

Based on the base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene as disclosed Patent Document 2 and Non-patent Document 1, the primers having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NOs: 105 and 106 in the Sequence Listing were synthesized. PCR was performed using 3 μg of the partially cleaved chromosome DNA as prepared in Example 81 as the template. In the PCR reaction, a system of 50 μl containing 200 ng of each primer and 1 U of KOD polymerase (manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.) was subjected to 40 PCR cycles comprising thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (58° C.) for 15 seconds and chain extension (68° C.) for 2 minutes. After completion of the PCR reaction, the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, product by Sigma Corporation; agarose concentration 0.8% by weight) and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product of about 1.3 Kbp.

Subsequently, an agarose fragment comprising only a DNA fragment of about 1.3 kbp was cut out of the agarose gel. The thus-cut agarose fragment (about 0.1 g) was finely pulverized, suspended in 1 ml of a TE solution, and kept at 55° C. for 1 hour, whereby the agarose fragment was completely melted. The resulting agarose melt was subjected to phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation. First, to this, 1 ml of a phenol solution saturated with TE (an aqueous solution of 10 mM Tris-HCl containing 1 mM EDTA.2Na; pH 8.0) was added, and the mixture was gently stirred. This was subjected to centrifugation (3,000 rpm, 10 minutes) to separate an aqueous phase and an organic phase, and only the aqueous phase was collected. After repeating this operation three times, to the obtained aqueous phase, 0.4 ml of the TE-saturated phenol solution and 0.4 ml of chloroform were added, and the mixture was again gently stirred. Then, this was subjected to centrifugation (3,000 rpm, 10 minutes) again to separate an aqueous phase and an organic phase, and only the aqueous phase was further collected. To this aqueous phase, 0.8 ml of chloroform was added, and the mixture was gently stirred. This was subjected to centrifugation (3,000 rpm, 10 minutes) again to separate an aqueous phase and an organic phase, and only the aqueous phase was collected. To this aqueous phase, 80 μl of a TE solution containing 1.1 M NaCl and 1.7 ml of ethanol were added, and after being stood still at −80° C. for 30 minutes, the mixture was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 20 minutes, 4° C.) to recover DNA fragments. These DNA fragments were dried in the air and finally dissolved in 10 μl of TE.

After the purified amplified DNA fragment of about 1.3 kbp was cleaved by means of restriction endonucleases EcoRI and ScaI, an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out by agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, product by Sigma Corporation; agarose concentration 0.8% by weight), and it was possible to confirm the presence of a DNA of about 1.3 Kbp. An agarose fragment comprising only the DNA fragment of about 1.3 kbp was cut out of the agarose gel. The thus-cut agarose fragment (about 0.1 g) was finely pulverized, suspended in 1 ml of a TE solution, and kept at 55° C. for 1 hour, whereby the agarose fragment was completely melted. The resulting agarose melt was subjected to phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation. First, to this, 1 ml of a phenol solution saturated with TE (an aqueous solution of 10 mM Tris-HCl containing 1 mM EDTA.2Na; pH 8.0) was added, and the mixture was gently stirred. This was subjected to centrifugation (3,000 rpm, 10 minutes) to separate an aqueous phase and an organic phase, and only the aqueous phase was collected. After repeating this operation three times, to the obtained aqueous phase, 0.4 ml of the TE-saturated phenol solution and 0.4 ml of chloroform were added, and the mixture was again gently stirred. Then, this was subjected to centrifugation (3,000 rpm, 10 minutes) again to separate an aqueous phase and an organic phase, and only the aqueous phase was collected. To this aqueous phase, 0.8 ml of chloroform was added, and the mixture was gently stirred. This was subjected to centrifugation (3,000 rpm, 10 minutes) again to separate an aqueous phase and an organic phase, and only the aqueous phase was collected. To this aqueous phase, 80 μl of a TE solution containing 1.1 M NaCl and 1.7 ml of ethanol were added, and after being stood still at −80° C. for 30 minutes, the mixture was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 20 minutes, 4° C.) to recover the DNA fragment. This DNA fragment was dried in the air and finally dissolved in 10 μl of TE.

Example 83

Preparation of Plasmid Vector to Express the Rhodococcus rhodochrous Strain J1-Derived Nitrile Hydratase Gene

In a 500 ml Erlenmeyer flask with baffles, 100 ml of a liquid LB medium of the following composition containing 40 μg/ml of ferric sulfate.heptahydrate and 10 μg/ml of cobalt chloride.hexahydrate was prepared and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes.

Medium composition;

Yeast extract: 5.0 g/L, polypeptone: 10.0 g/L, NaCl: 5.0 g/L, cobalt chloride.hexahydrate: 10.0 mg/L, ferric sulfate.theptahydrate: 40.0 mg/L, pH 7.5

To this medium, ampicillin was added to a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. Subsequently, one platinum loop of the cells of MT10822 (FERM BP-5785) as described in Patent Document 3 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for 16 hours with stirring at 130 rpm. The cells were separated from the resulting culture by centrifugation (15,000 G×15 minutes). Subsequently, the cells were resuspended in 50 ml of physiological saline, and then subjected to another centrifugation, thereby wet cells being obtained. The plasmid DNA pPT-DB1 (FIG. 1) was prepared from these wet cells by alkaline SDS extraction, and the product was subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixture was subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNA, and the DNA was dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl.

After 1 μg of the purified plasmid was cleaved by means of restriction endonucleases EcoRI and Eco47III, an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out by agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, product by Sigma Corporation; agarose concentration 0.8% by weight), and it was possible to confirm the presence of DNAs of about 3.3 kbp and of about 1.3 kbp. An agarose fragment comprising only the DNA fragment of about 3.3 kbp was cut out of the agarose gel. The thus-cut agarose fragment (about 0.1 g) was finely pulverized, suspended in 1 ml of a TE solution, and kept at 55° C. for 1 hour, whereby the agarose fragment was completely melted. The resulting agarose melt was subjected to phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation. First, to this, 1 ml of a phenol solution saturated with TE (an aqueous solution of 10 mM Tris-HCl containing 1 mM EDTA.2Na; pH 8.0) was added, and the mixture was gently stirred. This was subjected to centrifugation (3,000 rpm, 10 minutes) to separate an aqueous phase and an organic phase, and only the aqueous phase was collected. After repeating this operation three times, to the obtained aqueous phase, 0.4 ml of the TE-saturated phenol solution and 0.4 ml of chloroform were added, and the mixture was again gently stirred. Then, this was subjected to centrifugation (3,000 rpm, 10 minutes) again to separate an aqueous phase and an organic phase, and only the aqueous phase was further collected. To this aqueous phase, 0.8 ml of chloroform was added, and the mixture was gently stirred. This was subjected to centrifugation (3,000 rpm, 10 minutes) again to separate an aqueous phase and an organic phase, and only the aqueous phase was collected. To this aqueous phase, 80 μl of a TE solution containing 1.1 M NaCl and 1.7 ml of ethanol were added, and after being stood still at −80° C. for 30 minutes, the mixture was subjected to centrifugation (15,000 rpm, 20 minutes, 4° C.) to recover the DNA fragment. This DNA fragment was dried in the air and finally dissolved in 10 μl of TE.

Example 84

Construction of Transformant to Activate and Express the Rhodocuccus rhodochrous Strain J1-Derived Nitrile Hydratase

A mixture of the DNA fragment of about 1.3 kbp which was prepared in Example 82 by cleavage by means of EcoRI and ScaI, and the DNA fragment of about 3.3 kbp which was prepared in Example 83 by cleavage by means of EcoRI and Eco47III was subjected to DNA ligation. A competent cell of E. coli HB101 (manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.) was transformed with the reaction product to obtain transformant No. 200.

In a 500 ml Erlenmeyer flask with baffles, 100 ml of a liquid LB medium containing 40 μg/ml of ferric sulfate.heptahydrate and 10 μg/ml of cobalt chloride.hexahydrate was prepared and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. To this medium, ampicillin was added to a final concentration of 100 μg/ml. Subsequently, one platinum loop of the transformant No. 200 was inoculated and incubated therein at 37° C. for 20 hours with stirring at 130 rpm. The transformants were separated from the resulting culture by centrifugation (5,000 G×15 minutes). The transformants were resuspended in 50 ml of physiological saline and then subjected to another centrifugation (5,000 G×15 minutes), thereby the transformants being isolated.

0.1 g of thus isolated transformants were suspended in 20 ml of an aqueous solution (pH 7.0) of 50 mM potassium phosphate. To this, 0.5 ml of acrylonitrile or methacrylonitrile was added, and this mixture was gently stirred at 30° C. for 1 hour to react. After completion of the reaction, an analysis of the reaction solution was carried out with HPLC, and it was found that the reaction solution contained only an amide compound (acrylamide or methacrylamide) of a molar amount corresponding to the amount of the added nitrile compound (acrylonitrile or methacrylonitrile), and that the nitrile compound (acrylonitrile or methacrylonitrile) and the corresponding organic acid (acrylic acid or methacrylic acid) were absent. Thereafter, the conversion and the selectivity were 100%, respectively.

Further, a plasmid was prepared from this isolated transformant by alkaline SDS extraction, and the product was subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixture was subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNA, and the DNA was dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequence of the nitrile hydratase gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI. As a result, it was confirmed that the plasmid contained in its sequence the ORF which codes for the nitrile hydratase activating protein as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 103 in the Sequence Listing and the ORF which codes for the Rhodococcus rhodochrous strain J1-derived nitrile hydratase as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 104 in the Sequence Listing. This plasmid was named as pJ1H-DB1 (FIG. 2).

Example 85

Extraction of the Target of Mutation from Nitrile Hydratase Before Modification (1)

As the subject of the method for modification, Rhodococcus rhodochrous strain J1-derived nitrile hydratase was used as an example. Extraction of the target was carried out employing the method of specifying the amino acid residues which serve as the target of mutation as described in Claims 56 to 62 as an example. In the alignment of amino acid sequences for the method for specification as described in Claims 56 and 57, DNASIS manufactured by Hitach Software Engineering co., Ltd. was used. In the modeling of stereostructure based on the alignment of amino acid sequences for the method for specification as described in Claims 58 to 62, Modeler or Homology produced by Accelrys, Inc. was used.

As a result, in all cases, the extracted amino acid residues contained the 48^(th) Trp of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit, which is one of the two polypeptides constituting the nitrile hydratase. Thus, it was decided to use the 48^(th) Trp of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of the Rhodococcus rhodochrous stain J1-derived nitrile hydratase as the example for the target of mutation.

Example 86

Extraction of the Target of Mutation from Nitrile Hydratase Before Modification (2)

As the subject of the method for modification, Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase was used as an example. Extraction of the target was carried out employing the method of specifying the amino acid residues which serve as the target of mutation as described in Claims 56 to 62 as an example. In the alignment of amino acid sequences for the method for specification as described in Claims 56 and 57, DNASIS manufactured by Hitach Software Engineering co., Ltd. was used. In the modeling of stereostructure based on the alignment of amino acid sequences for the method for specification as described in Claims 58 to 62, Modeler or Homology produced by Accelrys, Inc. was used.

As a result, it was decided to use, among the amino acid residues extracted as the amino acid residues that are present in the region involved with forming a channel through which a substrate passes from the outside of the enzyme toward the active center or a product passes from the active center toward the outside of the enzyme, the 36^(th) Thr and 48^(th) Asn of the amino acid sequence of the α-subunit which is one of the two polypeptides constituting the nitrile hydratase, and the 32^(nd) Val, 33^(rd) Ala, 37^(th) Phe, 40^(th) Thr, 41^(st) Phe, 46^(th) Met, 48^(th) Leu, 51^(st) Phe, 61^(st) Ala, 72^(nd) Trp, 112^(th) Lys, 118^(th) Phe and 127^(th) Leu of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit which is another polypeptide, as the representative examples for the target of mutation, respectively.

Example 87

Extraction of the Target of Mutation from Nitrile Hydratase Before Modification (3)

As the subject of the method for modification, Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase was used as an example. Extraction of the target was carried out employing the method of specifying the amino acid residues which serve as the target of mutation as described in Claims 56 to 62 as an example. In the alignment of amino acid sequences for the method for specification as described in Claims 56 and 57, DNASIS manufactured by Hitach Software Engineering co., Ltd. was used. In the modeling of stereostructure based on the alignment of amino acid sequences for the method for specification as described in Claims 58 to 62, Modeler or Homology produced by Accelrys, Inc. was used.

As a result, it was decided to use, among the amino acid residues extracted as the amino acid residues that are present in the region forming an associative interface between the α-subunit and the β-subunit which is involved with the formation of dimers or in the region forming an interface which is involved with the association of dimers, the 36^(th) Thr, 148^(th) Gly, 188^(th) Thr and 204^(th) Val of the amino acid sequence of the α-subunit which is one of the two polypeptides constituting the nitrile hydratase, and the 10^(th) Thr, 32^(nd) Val, 33^(rd) Ala, 112^(th) Lys, 118^(th) Phe, 127^(th) Leu, 146^(th) Arg, 150^(th) Ala, 160^(th) Arg, 168^(th) Thr, 171^(st) Lys, 176^(th) Tyr, 186^(th) Leu, 217^(th) Asp and 218^(th) Cys of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit which is another polypeptide, as the representative examples for the target of mutation, respectively.

Example 88

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (1)

In order to introduce mutation to the amino acid sequence of the polypeptides constituting nitrile hydratase, introduction of site-specific mutation was performed using a “LA PCR in vitro mutagenesis Kit” (manufactured by Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.). The “LA PCR in vitro mutagenesis Kit” is simply referred to as the kit. In the following examples, the kit was handled on the basis of the principle thereof and in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions for the kit.

Onto a plasmid: pJ1H-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Rhodococcus rhodochrous strain J1-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed in Example 84, mutation was performed to change the 48^(th) Trp of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 85, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pJ1H-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 110 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out. This assay revealed the production of the amplified DNA products in the both PCR reactions. From each of these PCR reaction mixtures, the excess primers and dNTP were removed using Microcon 100 (manufactured by Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.), and then TE was added to each of the mixtures to prepare 50 μl each of TE solutions. An annealing solution of 47.5 μl in total containing 0.5 μl of both of the above TE solutions (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was prepared, and this solution was subjected to annealing by performing thermal denaturation of the solution at 98° C. for 10 minutes, subsequently cooling the solution to 37° C. at a constant cooling rate over a period of 60 minutes, and then maintaining it at 37° C. for 15 minutes.

To thus annealed solution, 0.5 μl of TAKARA LA Taq was added, and the solution was heated at 72° C. for 3 minutes, thus completing the formation of heterologous double-stranded DNA. This was then subjected to PCR reaction No. 3. For PCR reaction No. 3, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes.

After completion of the PCR reaction No. 3, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, product by Sigma Corporation; agarose concentration 0.8% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product of about 1.9 Kbp. An agarose fragment comprising only the DNA fragment of about 1.9 kbp was cut out of the agarose gel. The thus-cut agarose fragment (about 0.1 g) was finely pulverized, suspended in 1 ml of a TE solution, and kept at 55° C. for 1 hour, whereby the agarose fragment was completely melted. The resulting agarose melt was subjected to phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNA fragment. Thus purified DNA fragment was finally dissolved in 10 μl of TE.

After the purified amplified DNA fragment of about 1.9 kbp was cleaved by means of restriction endonucleases EcoRI and HindIII, this mixture treated with restriction endonucleases was subjected to phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNA fragment. Thus purified DNA fragment was finally dissolved in 10 μl of TE. Likewise, pJ1H-DB1 was cleaved by means of EcoRI and HindIII, and the mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, product by Sigma Corporation; agarose concentration of 0.7%). An agarose fragment comprising only the DNA fragment of about 2.7 kbp was cut out of the agarose gel. The thus-cut agarose fragment (about 0.1 g) was finely pulverized, suspended in 1 ml of a TE solution, and kept at 55° C. for 1 hour, whereby the agarose fragment was completely melted. The resulting agarose melt was subjected to phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNA fragment. Thus purified DNA fragment was finally dissolved in 10 μl of TE.

Thus obtained DNA fragments of about 1.9 kbp and of about 2.7 kbp were subjected to DNA ligation. A competent cell of E. coli HB101 (manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.) was transformed with the reaction product to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 48^(th) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of Rhodococcus rhodochrous strain J1-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Trp, as compared with pJ1H-DB1.

In Table 121 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 121 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Mutated Before After Before After Number site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 201 48^(th) Trp Tyr tgg tat position in β-subunit No. 202 48^(th) Trp Val tgg gtg position in β-subunit No. 203 48^(th) Trp Ala tgg gcg position in β-subunit No. 204 48^(th) Trp Gly tgg ggg position in β-subunit

Example 89

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (2)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 36^(th) Thr of the amino acid sequence of the α-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 111 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

After completion of the PCR reaction Nos. 1 and 2, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (where the agarose concentration was 1.0% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out. This assay revealed the production of the amplified DNA products in the both PCR reactions. From each of these PCR reaction mixtures, the excess primers and dNTP were removed using Microcon 100 (manufactured by Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.), and then TE was added to each of the mixtures to prepare 50 μl each of TE solutions. An annealing solution of 47.5 μl in total containing 0.5 μl of both of the above TE solutions (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was prepared, and this solution was subjected to annealing by performing thermal denaturation of the solution at 98° C. for 10 minutes, subsequently cooling the solution to 37° C. at a constant cooling rate over a period of 60 minutes, and then maintaining it at 37° C. for 15 minutes.

To thus annealed solution, 0.5 μl of TAKARA LA Taq was added, and the solution was heated at 72° C. for 3 minutes, thus completing the formation of heterologous double-stranded DNA. This was then subjected to PCR reaction No. 3. For PCR reaction No. 3, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes.

After completion of the PCR reaction No. 3, 5 μl of the reaction mixture was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, product by Sigma Corporation; agarose concentration 0.8% by weight), and an assay of the DNA amplification product was carried out, thereby it being possible to confirm the presence of an amplified DNA product of about 1.9 Kbp. An agarose fragment comprising only the DNA fragment of about 1.9 kbp was cut out of the agarose gel. The thus-cut agarose fragment (about 0.1 g) was finely pulverized, suspended in 1 ml of a TE solution, and kept at 55° C. for 1 hour, whereby the agarose fragment was completely melted. The resulting agarose melt was subjected to phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNA fragment. Thus purified DNA fragment was finally dissolved in 10 μl of TE.

After the purified amplified DNA fragment of about 1.9 kbp was cleaved by means of restriction endonucleases EcoRI and HindIII, this mixture treated with restriction endonucleases was subjected to phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNA fragment. Thus purified DNA fragment was finally dissolved in 10 μl of TE. Likewise, pPT-DB1 was cleaved by means of EcoRI and HindIII, and then subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis (using Type VII low-melting-point agarose, product by Sigma Corporation; agarose concentration of 0.7%). An agarose fragment comprising only the DNA fragment of about 2.7 kbp was cut out of the agarose gel. The thus-cut agarose fragment (about 0.1 g) was finely pulverized, suspended in 1 ml of a TE solution, and kept at 55° C. for 1 hour, whereby the agarose fragment was completely melted. The resulting agarose melt was subjected to phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNA fragment. Thus purified DNA fragment was finally dissolved in 10 μl of TE.

Thus obtained DNA fragments of about 1.9 kbp and of about 2.7 kbp were subjected to DNA ligation. A competent cell of E. coli HB101 (manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.) was transformed with the reaction product to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 36^(th) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the α-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Thr, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 122 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 122 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Before After Before After Number Mutated site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 40 36^(th) position Thr Met acg atg in α-subunit No. 40a 36^(th) position Thr Ser acg tcg in α-subunit No. 40b 36^(th) position Thr Ala acg gcg in α-subunit No. 40c 36^(th) position Thr Gly acg ggg in α-subunit No. 40d 36^(th) position Thr Trp acg tgg in α-subunit

Example 90

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (3)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 48^(th) Asn of the amino acid sequence of the α-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 112 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 48^(th) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the α-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Asn, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 123 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 123 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Before After Before After Number Mutated site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 40e 48^(th) position Asn Gln aac caa in α-subunit No. 40f 48^(th) position Asn Glu aac gaa in α-subunit

Example 91

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (4)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 71^(st) Arg of the amino acid sequence of the α-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 113 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 71^(st) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the α-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Arg, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 124 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 124 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Mutated Before After Before After Number site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 41 71^(st) Arg His cgt cat position in α- subunit

Example 92

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (5)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 148^(th) Gly of the amino acid sequence of the α-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 114 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 148^(th) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the α-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Gly, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 125 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 125 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Mutated Before After Before After Number site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 42 148^(th) Gly Asp ggc gac position in α- subunit

Example 93

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (6)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 188^(th) Thr of the amino acid sequence of the α-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 115 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 188^(th) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the α-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Thr, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 126 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 126 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Mutated Before After Before After Number site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 188^(th) Thr Gly acc ggc 42a position in α- subunit

Example 94

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (7)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 204^(th) Val of the amino acid sequence of the α-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μin total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 116 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 204^(th) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the α-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Val, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 127 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 127 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Before After Before After Number Mutated site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 43 204^(th) position Val Arg gtc cgc in α-subunit No. 44 204^(th) position Val Lys gtc aaa in α-subunit No. 45 204^(th) position Val Trp gtc tgg in α-subunit No. 46 204^(th) position Val Thr gtc acc in α-subunit

Example 95

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (8)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 10^(th) Thr of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 117 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 10^(th) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Thr, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 128 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 128 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Before After Before After Number Mutated site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 47 10^(th) position Thr Asp acc gac in β-subunit No. 48 10^(th) position Thr Glu acc gaa in β-subunit No. 49 10^(th) position Thr Trp acc tgg in β-subunit No. 50 10^(th) position Thr Gly acc ggc in β-subunit No. 51 10^(th) position Thr Tyr acc tac in β-subunit No. 52 10^(th) position Thr Cys acc tgc in β-subunit

Example 96

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (9)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 32^(nd) Val of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 118 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 32^(nd) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Val, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 129 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 129 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Mutated Before After Before After Number site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 53 32^(nd) Val Gly gtc ggc positon in β- subunit

Example 97

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (10)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 33^(rd) Ala of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 119 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 33^(rd) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Ala, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 130 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 130 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Before After Before After Number Mutated site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 53a 33^(rd) position Ala Val gcg gtg in β-subunit No. 53b 33^(rd) position Ala Met gcg atg in β-subunit

Example 98

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (11)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 37^(th) Phe of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 120 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 37^(th) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Phe, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 131 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 131 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Before After Before After Number Mutated site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 54 37^(th) position Phe Thr ttc acc in β-subunit No. 55 37^(th) position Phe Ala ttc gcc in β-subunit No. 56 37^(th) position Phe Leu ttc ctc in β-subunit No. 57 37^(th) position Phe Ile ttc atc in β-subunit No. 58 37^(th) position Phe Val ttc gtc in β-subunit

Example 99

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (12)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 40^(th) Thr of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT1-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types we re carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 5.0 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 121 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 40^(th) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Thr, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 132 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 132 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Before After Before After Number Mutated site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 58a 40^(th) position Thr Val acg gtg in β-subunit No. 58b 40^(th) position Thr Leu acg ctg in β-subunit No. 58c 40^(th) position Thr Ile acg att in β-subunit

Example 100

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (13)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 41^(st) Phe of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 122 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 41^(st) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Phe, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 133 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 133 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Before After Before After Number Mutated site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 59 41^(st) position Phe Glu ttc gaa in β-subunit No. 60 41^(st) position Phe Thr ttc acc in β-subunit No. 61 41^(st) position Phe Ala ttc gcc in β-subunit No. 62 41^(st) position Phe Leu ttc ctc in β-subunit No. 63 41^(st) position Phe Ile ttc atc in β-subunit No. 64 41^(st) position Phe Val ttc gtc in β-subunit

Example 101

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (14)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 46^(th) Met of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 123 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 46^(th) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Met, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 134 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 134 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Before After Before After Number Mutated site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 65 46^(th) position Met Gly atg ggg in β-subunit No. 66 46^(th) position Met Tyr atg tat in β-subunit No. 67 46^(th) position Met Leu atg ctg in β-subunit No. 68 46^(th) position Met Lys atg aag in β-subunit No. 69 46^(th) position Met Asp atg gat in β-subunit

Example 102

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (15)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 48^(th) Leu of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 124 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 48^(th) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Leu, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 135 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 135 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Before After Before After Number Mutated site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 70 48^(th) position Leu Gly ctg ggg in β-subunit No. 71 48^(th) position Leu Ala ctg gcg in β-subunit No. 72 48^(th) position Leu Val ctg gtg in β-subunit No. 73 48^(th) position Leu Ser ctg tcg in β-subunit No. 74 48^(th) position Leu Thr ctg acg in β-subunit No. 75 48^(th) position Leu Arg ctg cgg in β-subunit

Example 103

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (16)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 51^(st) Phe of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 125 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comrised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 51^(th) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Phe, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 136 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 136 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Before After Before After Number Mutated site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 76 51^(st) position Phe Ala ttc gcc in β-subunit No. 77 51^(st) position Phe Val ttc gtc in β-subunit

Example 104

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (17)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 61^(st) Ala of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 126 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 61^(st) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Ala, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 137 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 137 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Before After Before After Number Mutated site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 77a 61^(st) Ala Val gcc gtc position in β- subunit No. 77b 61^(st) Ala Leu gcc ctc position in β- subunit No. 77c 61^(st) Ala Gly gcc ggc position in β- subunit No. 77d 61^(st) Ala Ser gcc tcg position in β- subunit No. 77e 61^(st) Ala Thr gcc acg position in β- subunit No. 77f 61^(st) Ala Trp gcc tgg position in β- subunit

Example 105

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (18)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 72^(nd) Trp of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 127 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transform ants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 72^(nd) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Trp, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 138 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 138 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Before After Before After Number Mutated site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 78 72^(nd) Trp Phe tgg ttt position in β- subunit

Example 106

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme, (19)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 112^(th) Lys of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 128 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 112^(th) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Lys, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 139 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 139 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Before After Before After Number Mutated site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 112^(th) position Lys Val aag gtg 78a in β-subunit No. 112^(th) position Lys Ile aag att 78b in β-subunit

Example 107

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (20)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 118^(th) Phe of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 129 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 118^(th) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Phe, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 140 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 140 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Before After Before After Number Mutated site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 79 118^(th) position Phe Ala ttc gcc in β-subunit No. 80 118^(th) position Phe Leu ttc ctc in β-subunit No. 81 118^(th) position Phe Ile ttc atc in β-subunit No. 82 118^(th) position Phe Val ttc gtc in β-subunit

Example 108

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (21)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 127^(th) Leu of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 130 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 127^(th) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Leu, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 141 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 141 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Before After Before After Number Mutated site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 83 127^(th) Leu Ala ctg gcg position in β- subunit No. 84 127^(th) Leu Val ctg gtg position in β- subunit No. 85 127^(th) Leu Ser ctg tcg position in β- subunit

Example 109

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (22)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 146^(th) Arg of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 131 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 146^(th) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Arg, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 142 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 142 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Before After Before After Number Mutated site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 86 146^(th) Arg Gly cgg ggg position in β- subunit

Example 110

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (23)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 150^(th) Ala of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 132 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 150^(th) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Ala, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 143 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 143 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Before After Before After Number Mutated site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 150^(th) Ala Ser gcg tcg 86a position in β-subunit No. 150^(th) Ala Asn gcg aat 86b position in β-subunit

Example 111

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (24)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 160^(th) Arg of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 133 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 160^(th) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Arg, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 144 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 144 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Before After Before After Number Mutated site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 87 160^(th) Arg Leu cgg ctg position in β-subunit No. 88 160^(th) Arg Trp cgg tgg position in β-subunit No. 160^(th) Arg Met cgg atg 88a position in β-subunit No. 160^(th) Arg Cys cgg tgt 88b position in β-subunit

Example 112

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (25)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 68^(th) Thr of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 134 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 168^(th) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Thr, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 145 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 145 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Before After Before After Number Mutated site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 168^(th) Thr Glu acg gag 88c position in β- subunit

Example 113

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (26)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 171^(st) Lys of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 135 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 171^(st) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Lys, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 146 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 146 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Before After Before After Number Mutated site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 171^(st) Lys Ala aag gcg 88d position in β- subunit

Example 114

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (27)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 176^(th) Tyr of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 136 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 176^(th) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Tyr, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 147 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 147 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Before After Before After Number Mutated site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 176^(th) position Tyr Ala tac gcc 88e in β-subunit No. 176^(th) position Tyr Met tac atg 88f in β-subunit No. 176^(th) position Tyr Cys tac tgc 88g in β-subunit No. 176^(th) position Tyr Thr tac acc 88h in β-subunit

Example 115

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (28)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 186^(th) Leu of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 137 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 186^(th) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Leu, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 148 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 148 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Before After Before After Number Mutated site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 89 186^(th) position Leu Glu ctg gag in β-subunit No. 90 186^(th) position Leu Asp ctg gat in β-subunit No. 91 186^(th) position Leu Lys ctg aag in β-subunit No. 92 186^(th) position Leu Arg ctg cgg in β-subunit No. 93 186^(th) position Leu Asn ctg aac in β-subunit No. 94 186^(th) position Leu Ser ctg tcg in β-subunit No. 95 186^(th) position Leu Gly ctg ggg in β-subunit

Example 116

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (29)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 217^(th) Asp of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 138 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 217^(th) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Asp, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 149 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 149 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Before After Before After Number Mutated site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 96 217^(th) position Asp Gly gac ggc in β-subunit No. 217^(th) position Asp Val gac gtc 96a in β-subunit No. 217^(th) position Asp Leu gac ctc 96b in β-subunit No. 217^(th) position Asp Met gac atg 96c in β-subunit No. 217^(th) position Asp Cys gac tgt 96d in β-subunit No. 96e 217^(th) position Asp Ser gac agc in β-subunit No. 217^(th) position Asp Thr gac acc 96f in β-subunit No. 217^(th) position Asp His gac cac 96g in β-subunit

Example 117

Introduction of Mutation for Construction of Modified Enzyme (30)

Onto a plasmid: pPT-DB1 containing the ORF that codes for the Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase as constructed from MT10822 in Example 83, mutation was performed to change the 218^(th) Cys of the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit, which is the target of mutation as extracted in Example 86 or 87, to another amino acid.

Using 10 ng of pPT-DB1 as the template, PCRs of two different types were carried out. For the PCR reaction No. 1, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of the primer having the sequence as forth in SEQ ID NO: 139 in the Sequence Listing and 50 pmol of an M13 primer M4 (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 107 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction consisted of 25 PCR cycles, in which one PCR cycle comprised thermal denaturation (98° C.) for 15 seconds, annealing (55° C.) for 30 seconds and chain extension (72° C.) for 2 minutes. For the PCR reaction No. 2, a reaction system of 50 μl in total comprising 50 pmol of an MUT4 primer (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 108 in the Sequence Listing) and 50 pmol of an M13 primer RV (having the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 109 in the Sequence Listing) (for the composition of the system, the manufacturer's instructions for the kit were followed) was used, and the reaction was carried out following the same procedure as the PCR reaction No. 1.

Thereafter, the same procedure as in Example 89 was carried out to obtain a number of transformants. Plasmids were prepared from the respective transformants, and the plasmids were subjected to addition of 30 μg of RNase A and incubation at 37° C. for 1 hour. Subsequently, the mixtures were subjected to phenol extraction/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation to purify the DNAs, and they were each dissolved in a TE solution to a final concentration of 1.0 μg/μl. The base sequences thereof were determined by the dideoxy chain termination method using a sequencing kit and an Autosequencer 373A manufactured by ABI.

As a result, it was found that the plasmids from the above-obtained transformants were such that the base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding the 218^(th) amino acid in the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit of Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095-derived nitrile hydratase had been changed to a base sequence corresponding to the codon encoding an amino acid other than Cys, as compared with pPT-DB1.

In Table 150 below, the numbers of the obtained transformants as well as the corresponding mutated sites, changes in amino acid sequence and changes in base sequence are given.

TABLE 150 Change in amino Change in base acid sequence sequence Before After Before After Number Mutated site mutation mutation mutation mutation No. 218^(th) position Cys Met tgc atg 96h in β-subunit No. 218^(th) position Cys Ser tgc tcc 96i in β-subunit

Example 118

Comparison of Character Between Nitrile Hydratase Before Modification and Modified Enzyme after Modification (1)

In a 500 ml Erlenmeyer flask with baffles, 5 sets of a liquid LB medium of 100 ml each containing 40 μg/ml of ferric sulfate.heptahydrate and 10 μg/ml of cobalt chloride.hexahydrate were prepared and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. To each medium, ampicillin was added to a final concentration of 100 μg/ml.

Five types of transformants such as transformant No. 200 obtained in Example 84 and transformants No. 201 to 204 obtained in Example 88 were inoculated onto the above media such that one platinum loop of each of the transformant was inoculated on each of the five media. The cells were incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 130 rpm. Each of the transformants were separated from the resulting culture by centrifugation (5,000 G×15 minutes). Subsequently, the separated transformants were resuspended in 50 ml of physiological saline, and then subjected to another centrifugation (5,000 G×15 minutes), thereby each transformant being separated.

0.1 g of each of the transformants were suspended in 20 ml of an aqueous solution (pH 7.0) of 50 mM potassium phosphate, and then the suspensions were divided into 10 ml×2 sets. Thus, two suspensions per each tranformant, that is, 10 suspensions in total, were prepared. To one suspension of each transformant, 1 ml of acrylonitrile was added, and to the other suspension, methacrylonitrile was added. The suspensions were gently stirred at 30° C. for 10 minutes to react.

After completion of the reaction, an analysis of the reaction mixtures was carried out with HPLC, and it was found that each mixture contained a nitrile compound (acrylonitrile or methacrylonitrile), which was unreacted substrate, and an amide compound (acrylamide or methacrylamide), which was the corresponding product from the reaction. Further, the presence of a corresponding organic acid (acrylic acid or methacrylic acid) was not detected.

Comparison was made on the molar ratios for the respective transformants between the acrylamide which was produced from the reaction employing acrylonitrile as the substrate, and the methacrylamide which was produced from the reaction employing methacrylonitrile as the substrate. Differences as indicated in Table 151 below were observed. When a comparison is made in terms of acrylonitrile versus methacrylonitrile, from the viewpoint that methacrylonitirle is a bulkier nitrile compound, the results show that the obtained modified enzymes had increased facility in hydration of a bulkier substrate.

TABLE 151 Ratio of hydration activation (relative ratio) 48^(th) amino acid [case with methacrylonitrile as in β-subunit substrate] ÷ [case with Number (base sequence) acrylonitrile as substrate] No. Trp (tgg) 0.41 (100%) 200 No. Tyr (tat) 0.87 (211%) 201 No. Val (gtg) 0.79 (192%) 202 No. Ala (gcg) 0.67 (163%) 203 No. Gly (ggg) 0.82 (198%) 204

Example 119

Comparison of Character Between Nitrile Hydratase Before Modification and Modified Enzyme after Modification (2)

In a 500 ml Erlenmeyer flask with baffles, 56 sets of a liquid LB medium of 100 ml each containing 40 μg/ml of ferric sulfate.heptahydrate and 10 μg/ml of cobalt chloride.hexahydrate were prepared and sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. To each medium, ampicillin was added to a final concentration of 100 μg/ml.

Fifty-six types of transformants such as a transformant No. 0 obtained by transforming HB101 with pPT-DB1 and the following transformants obtained in Examples 89 to 117: No. 40, No. 40e, No. 40f, No. 42, No. 42a, No. 43, No. 44, No. 45, No. 46, No. 47, No. 48, No. 49, No. 50, No. 51, No. 52, No. 54, No. 55, No. 56, No. 57, No. 58, No. 59, No. 60, No. 61, No. 62, No. 63, No. 64, No. 65, No. 66, No. 67, No. 68, No. 69, No. 70, No. 71, No. 72, No. 73, No. 74, No. 75, No. 76, No. 77, No. 78, No. 79, No. 80, No. 81, No. 82, No. 83, No. 84, No. 85, No. 87, No. 88, No. 89, No. 90, No. 91, No. 92, No. 93, No. 94 and No. 95, were inoculated onto the above media such that one platinum loop of each of the transformant was inoculated on each of the 57 media. The cells were incubated therein at 37° C. for about 20 hours with stirring at 130 rpm. Each of the transformants was separated from the resulting culture by centrifugation (5,000 G x 15 minutes). Subsequently, the separated transformants were resuspended in 50 ml of physiological saline, and then subjected to another centrifugation (5,000 G x 15 minutes), thereby each transformant being separated.

0.1 g of each of the transformants were suspended in 20 ml of an aqueous solution (pH 7.0) of 50 mM potassium phosphate, and then the suspensions were divided into 10 ml×2 sets. Thus, two suspensions per each tranformant, that is, 112 suspensions in total, were prepared. To one suspension of each transformant, 1 ml of acrylonitrile was added, and to the other suspension, methacrylonitrile was added. The suspensions were gently stirred at 20° C. for 10 minutes to react.

After completion of the reaction, an analysis of the reaction mixtures was carried out with HPLC, and it was found that each mixture contained a nitrile compound (acrylonitrile or methacrylonitrile), which was unreacted substrate, and an amide compound (acrylamide or methacrylamide), which was the corresponding product from the reaction. Further, the presence of a corresponding organic acid (acrylic acid or methacrylic acid) was not detected.

Comparison was made on the molar ratios for the respective transformants between the acrylamide which was produced from the reaction employing acrylonitrile as the substrate, and the methacrylamide which was produced from the reaction employing methacrylonitrile as the substrate. Thus, such diversity as indicated in Table 152, Table 153 and Table 154 could be observed. When acrylonitrile and methacrylonitrile are compared for their bulkiness, methacrylonitrile is the bulkier nitrile compound. These results show that modified enzymes with changed substrate specificity was obtained, as compared with nitrile hydratase before modification.

TABLE 152 Ratio of hydration Ratio of hydration activation activation (relative ratio) (relative ratio) [case with [case with acrylonitrile methacrylonitrile as as substrate] ÷ [case substrate] ÷ [case with with acrylonitrile methacrylonitrile as Number as substrate] substrate] No. 0 0.189 (100%) 5.29 (100%) No. 40 0.219 (116%) 4.55 (86%) No. 40e 0.211 (112%) 4.71 (89%) No. 40f 0.206 (109%) 4.87 (92%) No. 42 0.200 (106%) 4.97 (94%) No. 42a 0.202 (107%) 4.92 (93%) No. 43 0.185 (98%) 5.40 (102%) No. 44 0.185 (98%) 5.40 (102%) No. 45 0.187 (99%) 5.34 (101%) No. 46 0.185 (98%) 5.40 (102%) No. 47 0.181 (96%) 5.50 (104%) No. 48 0.187 (99%) 5.34 (101%) No. 49 0.208 (110%) 4.81 (91%) No. 50 0.198 (105%) 5.03 (95%) No. 51 0.187 (99%) 5.34 (101%) No. 52 0.202 (107%) 4.92 (93%) No. 54 0.153 (81%) 6.51 (123%) No. 55 0.159 (84%) 6.30 (119%) No. 56 0.204 (108%) 4.92 (93%) No. 57 0.168 (89%) 5.92 (112%)

TABLE 153 Ratio of hydration Ratio of hydration activation activation (relative ratio) (relative ratio) [case with [case with acrylonitrile methacrylonitrile as as substrate] ÷ [case substrate] ÷ [case with with acrylonitrile methacrylonitrile as Number as substrate] substrate] No. 58 0.159 (84%) 6.30 (119%) No. 59 0.183 (97%) 5.45 (103%) No. 60 0.160 (85%) 6.24 (118%) No. 61 0.195 (103%) 5.13 (97%) No. 62 0.210 (111%) 4.76 (90%) No. 63 0.198 (105%) 5.03 (95%) No. 64 0.155 (82%) 6.45 (122%) No. 65 0.206 (109%) 4.87 (92%) No. 66 0.180 (95%) 5.55 (105%) No. 67 0.172 (91%) 5.82 (110%) No. 68 0.399 (211%) 2.49 (47%) No. 69 0.259 (137%) 3.86 (73%) No. 70 0.212 (112%) 4.71 (89%) No. 71 0.223 (118%) 4.50 (85%) No. 72 0.206 (109%) 4.87 (92%) No. 73 0.229 (121%) 4.39 (83%) No. 74 0.233 (123%) 4.28 (81%) No. 75 0.204 (108%) 4.92 (93%) No. 76 0.191 (101%) 5.24 (99%) No. 77 0.271 (142%) 3.70 (70%)

TABLE 154 Ratio of hydration Ratio of hydration activation activation (relative ratio) (relative ratio) [case with [case with acrylonitrile methacrylonitrile as as substrate] ÷ [case substrate] ÷ [case with with acrylonitrile methacrylonitrile as Number as substrate] substrate] No. 78 0.268 (137%) 3.86 (73%) No. 79 0.170 (90%) 5.87 (111%) No. 80 0.183 (97%) 5.45 (103%) No. 81 0.180 (95%) 5.56 (105%) No. 82 0.164 (87%) 6.08 (115%) No. 83 0.174 (92%) 5.77 (109%) No. 84 0.208 (110%) 4.81 (91%) No. 85 0.164 (87%) 6.08 (115%) No. 87 0.176 (93%) 5.71 (108%) No. 88 0.166 (88%) 6.03 (114%) No. 89 0.191 (101%) 5.24 (99%) No. 90 0.197 (104%) 5.08 (96%) No. 91 0.187 (99%) 5.34 (101%) No. 92 0.185 (98%) 5.40 (102%) No. 93 0.187 (99%) 5.34 (101%) No. 94 0.193 (102%) 5.18 (98%) No. 95 0.187 (99%) 5.34 (101%)

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention is useful in the art of material production using biological catalyst. An example thereof may include the case of material production by conversion of a nitrile compound to a corresponding amide compound by means of hydration using an enzyme called nitrile hydratase or an organism expressing the enzyme activity as the biological catalyst. 

1. An isolated nitrile hydratase comprising an α-subunit and a β-subunit, wherein: (a) the α-subunit comprises the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 1, except that the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 1 is substituted at positions: 36 to Met, 71 to His, 148 to Asp, 204 to Arg, Lys, Trp or Thr, 148 and 204 to Asp and Arg respectively, 36, 148 and 204 to Met, Asp and Arg respectively, 36 and 126 to Met and Tyr respectively, 6, 36, and 126 to Met, Thr and Tyr respectively, or 19, 71, and 126 to His, Val and Tyr respectively; and (b) the β-subunit comprises the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:
 2. 2. The nitrile hydratase according to claim 1, wherein the β-subunit consists of the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:
 2. 3. An isolated nitrile hydratase comprising an α-subunit and a β-subunit, wherein: (a)(i) the α-subunit comprises the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 1, except that the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 1 is substituted at positions 36, 148 and 204 of SEQ ID NO: 1 to Met, Asp and Arg respectively, and (ii) the β-subunit comprises the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, except that the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2 is substituted at positions 41, 51 and 108 of SEQ ID NO: 2 to Ile, Val, and Asp respectively; (b)(i) the α-subunit comprises the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 1, except that the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 1 is substituted at positions 6, 36 and 126 of SEQ ID NO: 1 to Thr, Met and Tyr respectively, and (ii) the β-subunit comprises the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, except that the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2 is substituted at positions 10, 118, and 200 of SEQ ID NO: 2 to Asp, Val and Glu respectively; (c)(i) the α-subunit comprises the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 1, except that the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 1 is substituted at positions 19, 71 and 126 of SEQ ID NO: 1 to Val, His and Tyr respectively, and (ii) the β-subunit comprises the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, except that the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2 is substituted at positions 37, 108, and 200 of SEQ ID NO: 2 to Leu, Asp, and Glu respectively; (d)(i) the α-subunit comprises the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 1, except that the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 1 is substituted at positions 19, 71 and 126 of SEQ ID NO: 1 to Val, His and Tyr respectively, and (ii) the β-subunit comprises the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, except that the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2 is substituted at positions 37, 108, and 200 of SEQ ID NO: 2 to Val, Asp, and Glu respectively; or (e)(i) the α-subunit comprises the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 1, except that the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 1 is substituted at positions 148 and 204 of SEQ ID NO: 1 to Asp and Arg respectively, and (ii) the β-subunit comprises the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, except that the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2 is substituted at positions 108, and 200 of SEQ ID NO: 2 to Asp, and Glu respectively.
 4. An isolated nitrile hydratase comprising an α-subunit and a β-subunit, wherein: (a) the α-subunit comprises the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 1; and (b) the β-subunit comprises the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, except that the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2 is substituted at positions; 10 to Asp, Glu, Trp, Gly, Tyr or Cys, 32 to Gly, 37 to Thr, Ala, Leu, Ile or Val, 41 to Glu, Thr, Ala, Leu, Ile, or Val, 46 to Gly, Tyr, Leu ,Lys or Asp, 48 to Gly, Ala, Val, Ser, Thr or Arg, 51 to Ala or Val, 72 to Phe, 118 to Ala, Leu, Ile or Val, 127 to Ala, Val or Ser, 146 to Gly, 160 to Leu or Trp, 186 to Glu, Asp, Lys, Arg, Asn, Ser or Gly 217 to Gly, 160 and 186 to Trp and Arg respectively, 127, 160 and 186 to Ser, Trp and Arg respectively, 51 and 108 to Val and Asp respectively, 118 and 200 to Val and Glu respectively, 10, 118 and 200 to Asp, Val and Glu respectively, 37, 108 and 200 to Leu, Asp and Glu respectively, 37, 108 and 200 to Val, Asp and Glu respectively, 41, 51 and 109 to Ile, Val and Asp respectively, 46, 108 and 212 to Lys, Arg and Tyr respectively, or 48, 108 and 212 to Val, Arg and Tyr respectively.
 5. The nitrile hydratase according to claim 4, wherein the α-subunit consists of the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:
 1. 6. An isolated nitrile hydratase comprising an α-subunit and a β-subunit, wherein: (a)(i) the α-subunit comprises the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 1, except that the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 1 is substituted at positions 6, 19 and 126 of SEQ ID NO: 1 to Thr, Val and Tyr respectively, and (ii) the β-subunit comprises the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, except that the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2 is substituted at positions 46, 108 and 212 of SEQ ID NO: 2 to Lys, Arg and Tyr respectively; (b)(i) the α-subunit comprises the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 1, except that the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 1 is substituted at positions 6, 19 and 126 of SEQ ID NO: 1 to Thr, Val and Tyr respectively, and (ii) the β-subunit comprises the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, except that the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2 is substituted at positions 48, 108 and 212 of SEQ ID NO: 2 to Val, Arg and Tyr respectively, or (c)(i) the α-subunit comprises the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 1, except that the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 1 is substituted at positions 6, 19 and 126 of SEQ ID NO: 1 to Ala, Val and Tyr respectively, and (ii) the β-subunit comprises the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, except that the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2 is substituted at positions 127, 160 and 186 of SEQ ID NO: 2 to Ser, Trp and Arg respectively.
 7. An isolated host cell comprising the nitrile hydratase of claim
 1. 8. An isolated host cell comprising the nitrile hydratase of claim
 4. 9. An isolated host cell comprising the nitrile hydratase of claim
 6. 10. An isolated host cell comprising the nitrile hydratase of claim
 3. 11. An isolated nitrile hydratase comprising an α-subunit and a β-subunit, wherein: (a) the α-subunit comprises the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 1, except that the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 1 is substituted at one or more positions selected from the group consisting of positions 36, 71, 148, and 204 by another amino acid; and (b) the β-subunit comprises the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, except that the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2 is substituted at one or more positions selected from the group consisting of positions 10, 32, 37, 41, 46, 48, 51, 72, 118, 127, 146, 160, 186, and 217 by another amino acid.
 12. An isolated host cell comprising the nitrile hydratase of claim
 11. 